Inside the Unknown
by Courage and Love
Summary: Maximum Ride and her flock are hanging out, just like usual... except now a new enemy has emerged. When the flock loses contact with each other, Max has to find the others and identify their adversary. But then there's Angel. Has she managed to get kidnapped again?
1. Gasman to the Max

" _Wahoo!_ "

I watched as the Gasman cannonballed through the air on top of Iggy. He extended his wings, but it was too late – the boys went careening into the cloud. With an exaggerated sigh, I dove down to collect them, feeling the sweet breeze rush past me.

Gosh, I loved flying. Just dropping down from an unimaginable height – it was amazing. I caught sight of the boys, circling each other below. With a grin, I grabbed their arms and dragged them up to where the flock was waiting.

"Max! Did'cha see that?" Nudge asked when I came back up holding Gazzy and Iggy by their elbows. Their wings, beating in sync, whapped me in the head with each downstroke. I let them go in a hurry.

"No, Nudge," I said, soaring up to her. "What happened?"

"Well, that cloud over there – you know, the one that looks like a headless chicken?" I gave her a look, and she moved on. "There was a thing in it, like an airplane or something, and it created a hole right in the center of it! So now the cloud looks like a chicken body with a hole in it!"

"Where?" I asked.

She pointed to the cloud. She was right; it really did look like a headless chicken. The airplane-shaped thing, small, sleek, and black, was zooming from its center… right toward us.

Any sense of well-being or happiness dissipated. " _Scatter!_ "

Instantly obeying my command, the flock immediately shot in different directions. I powered up my super speed, and seconds later I was flying above the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Oops. Too far.

I backpedaled, beginning to wonder exactly what had been chasing us. Another enemy? Some corrupt government? The scientists from the School?

The flock was not waiting at the rendezvous point, which was a cave on the side of a cliff we had discovered a while back. I dropped into the cave, ignoring the dread settling in my stomach.

When five minutes passed and no one still showed up, I was ready to worry.

"Guys!" I shouted over the cliff, overlooking the canyon. "Angel! Fang! Nudge?"

My voice echoed in the empty stillness of the sky. I kept hoping for the Gasman to suddenly hurtle down on top of me, laughing his head off. But no one came.

I extended my wings, prepared to go looking for them. If our unknown enemy had somehow caught one or more of us, I was going to show them exactly why not to mess with Maximum Ride.

The air gathered my wings on takeoff, lifting me high above the canyon. I was in no mood to enjoy it. My flock was missing.

But where could they –

 _Ooof!_

The wind was knocked out of me, and I went cartwheeling out of the sky. Whatever heavy lump had slammed into me, it was off now. I focused my gaze on the object; saw that it was a person…

"Gaz?"

The Gasman's fluffy golden hair, his bird-kid wings, the torn, stained clothing… but not his face. Where Gazzy's round, happy expression usually was, an appearance of terror was present. Gazzy glanced at me and hugged me so hard that I forgot to flap.

"Max – it's you – the others –"

I embraced him, scared to death over what could have made him so terrified. "Come on. The cave."

He followed me back to the cave in the cliff, where I sat him down and demanded the story with a shaky voice. He told me.

"The plane thing was sent to kill us. Not capture. It tried to fry us with a laser, I saw, it went after me. I weaved in and out of trees, down low in a forest, but it blasted right through them all, and they just… fizzled out of existence. Like those egg-dying tablets mixed into vinegar. Poof, gone. So I flew as fast as I could. But then…" he paused, losing focus. I snapped my fingers to get him to continue. "Right. Angel came out of nowhere and flew right towards it. At the last second, she swerved away, and it must've had heat sensors, because it followed her. I couldn't find her again – I looked – so I came here."

Gazzy stared at me. I knew he wanted me to come up with a plan. "And the others?" I asked.

He frowned. "I didn't see them since we split up."

For the first time since the beginning of his story, I felt the sudden need to console him. "It's okay. We'll go find them and kick the butt of whoever our new opponent is soon." I reached out and hugged him again.

"Okay," he said.

We sat in silence and worry, watching the sun fade into the horizon.

"Max?" He looked at me with wide young eyes. "We'll do something, right?"

I squeezed his shoulder. "Oh, yes. And whatever we do, it will be big."


	2. Nudgelet to the Max

**We find the nickname "Nudgelet" random and disturbing :), hence the name of this chapter. Enjoy!**

Nudge stared at the ground rushing past her as she flew low under the forest canopy. She knew it would probably be smarter to watch where she was going, but then the wind would make her eyes sting, and then she'd be crying even harder.

Nudge couldn't remember the last time she'd been alone. Had it been after the first attack from the Erasers, when she and Fang had flown with the hawks? Or sometime after that? Nudge couldn't even think of a time. Would she be alone for the rest of her life? Would she ever see the flock again?

Nudge narrowly avoided slamming into a tree. She shook her head. She had to shut down that train of thought. Fang sometimes said that she overthought things. Maybe now was one of those times. She would have to survive on her own until Max found her.

Nudge almost skipped a wingbeat. The rendezvous point! The flock had agreed on it a while ago, just in case.

Heart soaring with hope, she flew down to the ground. First, she would make sure that the strange black plane wasn't following, then she could circle back to the location….

A low growl caught her attention.

Nudge's head snapped up. She was in a forest, somewhere in the United States. Where certain animals were steadily making a comeback. Not an Eraser, surely. But something equally dangerous.

Nudge gulped, backing into a tree. Why had she landed again?

The creature's burly form stared at her from the shadows of the forest. It came closer, rising onto its hind legs to see her better.

A brown bear. Or grizzly. Nudge didn't know the difference.

She backed up slowly. Was that what you were supposed to do? Or make noise?

The bear didn't seem to care. It came closer, shaking its furry head, and opened its mouth wide. A strange, throaty roar came out; it made Nudge's hair stand in end.

Was she about to die? Would the rest of the flock know?

Nudge banished her fears. She had to make it out.

Could she fly to safety?

The bear lunged at her, still roaring a threat.

Nudge couldn't help but shriek and flare out her wings. She was about to die, she'd never see her friends again, and she'd never get to live past –

" _Rawr!_ "

Nudge cracked open her eyes. The bear wasn't attacking her.

It was focused on something else. _Someone_ else.

"Fang!"

Fang whacked the muscular bear on the head with a large tree branch, flying right above it. The animal roared, not so much in pain as annoyance, swatting at the bird-kid over its head. Fang ducked and dove around it, hitting it again and again.

Nudge watched in astonishment as he fought the brown-furred beast. He slammed its head down with the branch and ground out, "Go!" before the bear swiped at him again.

"But – Fang –" she stammered, but at a hard look from him, she shot into the air. Fang had saved her! She couldn't count how many times he'd done that before.

But she had to help him! Nudge watched as he banged the branch against the bear again. This time, it was ready. With a fast strike, it lashed out, knocking him to the ground. He had only seconds.

"Hey, _ugly_!" Nudge shouted, zooming down towards the bear. At the last second, she kicked her feet out, smashing into the animal's side.

It _bare_ ly affected the bear (Nudge couldn't believe her timing for terrible humor), but her intervention gave Fang time to take off. He motioned for her to hurry, and she soared up to him just as the bear was about to swat her in the face.

"Where are we going? Did you see the others?" she panted as they circled overhead. She had about a billion questions.

Fang replied, "To the place. Meet them there," and tilted his wings to carry him toward the appointed cave.

Nudge couldn't help but worry. What if the flock wasn't waiting for them? What if the strange, black rocket had blasted them? Had she seen it follow any of the others? It might have been going after Gazzy, but she wasn't sure.

"Fang?" she said again.

He shook his head. "Wait until we get there," he responded.

When they reached the cave in the cliff wall, Nudge's worst fears were confirmed. The flock was gone. No one was there.

Fang landed anyway, and she had no choice but to do so as well. "Where are they?" she asked, unable to keep the panic from her voice.

He was inspecting the cave, as though there was some sort of trace there. After a while, he said, "Max was here." He pointed to footprints in the dry, sandy floor. Most were big, Max-size prints, but a few were smaller.

Nudge's heart leaped. Max had been there, and Gazzy or Angel could have been with her! But she shouldn't jump to any conclusions. "What does that mean?" she asked Fang with wide eyes.

He paused. "Max was either here with Angel or Gaz. Not Iggy, though. His are new Nikes that haven't worn down yet, so his prints would be ridged." He stared intently at the ground, as though the footprints would come alive and turn into the missing flock.

Nudge looked at him hopefully. "So that means that Max is okay?"

"She was," Fang said. "No idea now."

Nudge was feeling nervous again. How could Fang just stand there? They had to find everyone. What if Max left the cave for a reason? If their new enemy caught her, would she have made it to the rendezvous spot?

She was about to voice her anxieties, when two figures alighted at the entrance to the cave.

 **Should I write a fanfiction called "Elementary, My Dear Nudge"? You know, about Fang's life as a secret detective? My partner, Love, thinks I should, so yeah. She imagines him twirling the end of a long mustache. XD**


	3. Rockets to the Max

I took the Gasman out to the forest where he said he'd last seen the flock. We flew high over the trees, scanning the area for movement.

Gazzy looked down over the vegetation dejectedly. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I don't know where I last saw Angel. It all looks the same."

I refused to give up. If Angel had been kidnapped _again_ … let's just say, I'd do more than kick her captors' stupid butts.

"It's all right, Gazzy," I replied. "We'll find her and the others. For now, we'll just have to –"

Something caught my attention, and I froze.

"Gaz?" I said slowly, flapping my wings hard to stay aloft. "Is that…?"

He looked up, preoccupied with studying the ground in search of clues. And he saw immediately what I was talking about.

Iggy appeared to be flying as fast as he could towards us, panic clear on his face. He zoomed over to us, nearly knocking us out of the air, and kept going past us.

"Iggy?" I called, wondering why he was in too much of a rush to notice our voices.

But when I whirled around at a tug from Gazzy, I saw the smooth, black rocket lift from the forest in the distance and shoot towards us.

"Run – fly – Up and Away!" I shouted, startled. I blasted in the direction Iggy went, and Gazzy followed. We didn't speak at all as the wind whipped our hair back. I couldn't use my super speed, or else I'd be ahead of Gazzy.

The cave was in view now. Iggy had landed already, and Gazzy went next. I would have to grill Iggy later, but first I had to deal with the plane.

It had heat sensors according to Gazzy, right? So we wouldn't be safe in the cave. We'd be trapped.

I veered away from the cave entrance just in time, not looking at the Gasman's surprised face as he watched. Soaring up the cliff, I risked a glance back to see the black jet following. Perfect.

I flew up to the jagged rocks of the mountain above the cliff, weaving in and out of them. To my surprise, the plane followed flawlessly.

What could I do now?

Apparently the plane had ideas. As I flew up into the sky once again, it let out a red blast from a fixture on its underside.

A laser. A freaking _laser_. What was next?

The laser whizzed by me (if a laser can "whiz") and hit an unlucky bird. Gazzy hadn't been exaggerating about their destructiveness. Bye-bye, birdie.

More lasers came. I had to duck, tumble, and roll in the air just to keep from fizzling out of existence via death ray.

Was the rest of the flock okay? This better have been worth it.

I wiped my forehead with a hand, and immediately a kind of horrible pain flared in my right wing. I almost didn't want to look where the laser had caught me.

But I had to. And I wished that I hadn't. My wing feathers were basically melting. It at least looked that way. What if Nudge, Fang, or Angel had been shot with one of these?

But at that moment the blasts stopped coming. I spun in the air, trying to keep from falling because of my wing. The rocket slowed down and sort of _hovered_ there, next to me.

A carefully hidden door in the side of it slid open. I flapped hard, knowing I was about to meet my attacker.

Someone was in the doorway. A man I didn't recognize. He had white hair and black eyes that contrasted against his snowy beard. There was a remote-control in his hand.

"Maximum Ride," he said impassively. "We have something you may desire."

"I _desire_ for you to die a painful death and _leave me alone_ ," I snarled.

The man didn't react. "If you wish to be difficult," he said and pressed a button on the remote. Instantly, the lasers fired up again, and I was blasted straight in the head.

I was dead. The immediate pain proved it. There was no way I could have survived. And the rest of the flock was probably dead too.

But the last thought in my head was, _What did they want?_

The lasers had happened so fast, I didn't even notice they were yellow instead of red.

 **Calm down. Max is the main character; she can't die (unlike some people). So just chill. Unless you were fine in the first place, in which you can show some more empathy towards Max.**


	4. Sneakers to the Max

The Gasman landed in the rendezvous cave and spun around, only to see Max meet his eye as she flew past. Gazzy didn't have a chance to shout.

"Where'd she go?" he cried, spinning around again to face Iggy.

Except Iggy wasn't the only person in the cave.

Nudge was embracing him, Fang standing next to her.

"Gazzy!" Nudge shouted, abandoning Iggy and hugging the Gasman.

Gazzy tried to shake her off. "You guys are alive! I thought the jet lasered you!" He stopped. "But it's following Max right now!" He remembered its heat sensors.

Fang looked up. "Let's go after her, then."

Iggy stared at him. "What do you mean? That thing's got _laser beams!_ " he said. Then he slapped his forehead. "I shouldn't have led it to the cave!"

Gazzy shook his head. "That's gotta be why Max left," he said.

"So let's go," Nudge said anxiously, eyes wide, repeating what Fang had said. "C'mon!"

Fang dropped out of the cave first, then Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy. They soared up over the forest-filled canyon below, scanning their surroundings for Max.

"Do you think it got her?" Nudge asked anxiously.

"No way," said Gazzy. Inside, though, he wasn't entirely sure.

They flew up the cliff to where the jagged mountain climbed into the sky. Gazzy wondered if Max could have avoided the black plane in such a rough location.

"Max!" Nudge called. "Max?"

" _Ma-ax_! You out there?" Iggy shouted.

Gazzy stared hard at the passing greens and greys of the ground. There was no sign of her.

"Over there," Fang said quietly.

Gazzy looked. In between two brown boulders, a flash of color caught his eye.

"What is it?" Nudge asked.

Gazzy knew. "Her sneaker."

The four flock members spiraled to the ground. Fang yanked the blue and grey shoe from between the rocks.

There was sudden silence as the flock circled around him.

Gazzy stared at it. His brain couldn't process the information. The third color soaking the shoe. The dull red, beginning to crust.

Fang spoke first. "Blood."

Max was dead? She and the sleek black plane were nowhere to be found, and someone had to have been hurt for there to have been blood.

Gazzy shook his head. There was no body, though. _So Max could still be alive._

"What do we do?" Nudge whispered, tears in her eyes.

Fang stared at the sneaker. "Think. We don't know our enemy. Max could be gone or worse. The rocket might come back. We have to get away from here." He handed the shoe to Iggy. "For now, this is the plan."

"But what if Max comes back?" Nudge asked. "What if she found Angel, too?"

Fang shook his head. "Then they'll come looking for us. But we have to go."

Iggy ran his hand over the sneaker. "Yeah, and this is definitely blood. Who knows how much danger we'll be in if we stay?" he said.

Gazzy frowned. He didn't like the plan much. But what were they supposed to do?

"Let's go." Fang jumped off the cliff and spread his dark wings. Iggy followed, Max's sneaker in hand, with Nudge close behind.

Gazzy hesitated. _If Max is still alive, she'd better hurry up_ , he thought. In one leap, he unfurled his wings and flew after the others.


	5. (Evil) Angel to the Max

**I don't own the vampire movie that Max brings up. Read on.**

I awoke to immense pain in my head. Any movement sent sparks of agony shooting up my brain. I held my head in my hands, groaning.

Gradually, I began to take in my surroundings. Opening my eyes caused too much pain, but, squinting, I was able to see the white walls and heavy doors made of reinforced metal. A prison specially designed for holding mutant bird kids.

I tried to sit up. The migraine made me grab my head with one hand and the bed frame with the other. There was a huge bruise on my head from the laser….

I remembered the laser. The mysterious black plane. The man with the beard. Were the others okay?

My eyes found a security camera in the corner of the room. Whoever had shot me in the head was probably watching me right now.

I took a few shaky steps closer to the camera.

"I seriously hope you've got a reason for bringing me here," I shouted.

No response. The camera didn't move.

But, as if on cue, light footsteps echoed down the hall and the door swung open. I was fully prepared to take down the guy and bolt out the door, but my mind shorted out when I saw who it was.

It was not Jeb.

It was not some random egomaniac set on polluting the world.

It was no one I'd been expecting.

It was Angel.

I stumbled backwards, my head throbbing. "Angel?"

Angel looked at me with those big, sorrowful eyes, and I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. _Angel?_

"I'm sorry, Max. They said I could explain it to you," she said.

"What? Angel? Did they kidnap you?" I stared at her, uncomprehending. "What do you have to explain to me?" It was impossible. Unreal. Angel was…

She took a deep breath. "Not really. They told me what they were doing. I agreed to come along."

"What on earth _are_ they doing? Who are _they_?" I asked.

"Max," she said sadly. "They don't want to hurt us. They don't want to destroy anything. _They want to make more of us._ "

It felt like the wind was knocked out of me. My head ached worse than ever. "More if us? More mutants? Why would I ever want anyone else to go through this?" My voice was rising steadily. "Angel. Nobody should ever have to suffer the way we have. No one should be experimented on or kept in _cages_. I was knocked out by an actual _laser_ to be brought here!"

Angel sighed as though I were acting silly. "Max," she said again cajolingly. "There will be a time when only the strong will survive. I thought you wanted people to live?" She tried smiling. I looked daggers at her. "People will get to experience the miracle of flying. And we'd have more people like us! We wouldn't be alone anymore!"

"Angel," I said desperately, troubled by how appealing it sounded. "Think about it. It doesn't change anything. Like in that movie, how the guy thought turning people into vampires would save himself from loneliness. We're not like him!"

Angel frowned. "I thought he got a girlfriend at the end?"

I winced. "Not the point."

"But Max," she said once more. "Don't you want to be happy?"

"If I were happy I wouldn't be me," I replied. It was true.

Angel's face darkened. "They'd rather take you willing, you know."

"What do you mean?" I said. "And I still don't know who _they_ are."

She shook her head. Without another word, she left the room, locking the door with the keypad from the other side. I realized too late that I could have fought her out the door.

I sat down on the bed, rubbing my throbbing head.

"Well, it's just you and me, camera."


	6. The Institute to the Max

**This chapter was very hard, because it's in Iggy's perspective. Challenging, yes, but I'm happy with what I've written. It was interesting, writing with the other senses.**

Iggy listened as Fang, Nudge, and Gazzy debated what to do.

"There's a park near here. We'll stay for the night," Fang said.

There was a rush of feathers ruffling. "Is it far enough?" Gazzy asked.

"Maybe. We'll just have to see."

"Do you think Max is okay?" Nudge asked. She brushed Iggy with her wings to let him know when they altered course. "I mean, what if something terrible happened to her? And do you think she found Angel? What if…." She trailed off, presumably as Fang began to ignore her.

"She's gotta be fine," Iggy said. He wasn't sure if he believed it. Max wouldn't just disappear and leave a bloody sneaker behind. But Nudge's yakking was agonizing. "And so must Angel."

"Yeah," said Gazzy to his left. His voice sounded slightly dejected, but who could blame him?

Suddenly, Iggy heard a gasp from him. He raised his eyebrows. " _See_ something?"

"Iggy, there's something down there…" said Nudge.

"Circle down." Fang sounded as unaffected as ever.

Iggy had no choice but to follow. "What's there?" He couldn't help being annoyed that they could see whatever it was and didn't feel like telling him.

"Ig," said the Gasman quietly. He flew closer, obvious by the sound of a _whoosh_ and more feathers brushing Iggy's. "It looks like… that laser plane."

Iggy blinked. " _The_ laser plane?"

"Yeah."

Iggy didn't understand. "Is the plane coming after us?" He felt sure he would have heard the engines roaring like last time.

"Um… no."

"Then _what_?" he asked, irritated.

"Well, it looks sort of crashed." Gazzy sounded half terrified, half excited. And just like that, Iggy realized what he was thinking.

"You want to check it out?"

"We're going to," said Fang. "Too big of a chance to miss. Might be a company." He brushed by Iggy as he dove down into the forest.

"What if…" Nudge started, but Iggy cleared his throat meaningfully and instead she led him down after Fang.

The forest floor smelled nothing like those pine tree air fresheners inside cars. It was wetter, and definitely earthier. Iggy wouldn't have minded living in a place like this, but Max probably wouldn't have liked it. No, she absolutely wouldn't have.

Iggy felt his feet sink into the leafy ground as he landed. He folded his wings along with the others.

"What do we do?" Nudge was asking worriedly.

"Search," Fang replied. "Fast. We can't be caught."

There was the crunching sound of the others going off to look at the plane. Iggy touched its side. It was warm and silent. The metal was crumpled unnaturally, as though it had crashed. The Gasman has said it had earlier.

Iggy ran his hands across the plane's broad surface. He could still remember the sound of the lasers, just like some space science fiction movie. He had been stunned to almost knock Max and Gazzy out of the air by accident.

Iggy was jolted out of his thoughts by the irregular but precise carving on the side of the plane. He felt the symbol. A company?

"Guys!" he called. "I found something."

Using his hands, he created a mental picture of the symbol. It seemed to be a circle with more etchings in the center.

"It's not Itex, is it?" Nudge asked, coming over.

"Of course not," said Gazzy. He leaned on Iggy's arm. "Is it?"

"No," said Iggy slowly. "You tell me."

He moved to the side so they could see the logo.

"The Institute for Higher Living," Fang read. He continued sarcastically, "Ever hear of that?"


	7. Godzilla to the Max

**Sorry I'm late! My partner and I are very happy with this chapter. In a writing sense, not a happiness sense. Enjoy your pain!**

Nobody came back. Not Angel. Not the bearded man from the jet. Was the flock okay? I was beginning to wonder if I would die of boredom sitting on the bed.

That was when the door opened without even the warning of footsteps.

A whitecoat came in with a cart. I stood up immediately.

Upon noticing me, the whitecoat smiled. "Ah, Maximum Ride, yes?" he said. "We are ready to have you come in." He said this like it was some sort of check-in announcement at a hotel.

"Give me one good reason not to shove you into that trolley and take off," I snarled.

The man looked genuinely confused. "Ah, the little one did say you would be… reluctant," he said. Then he brightened. "But you will come! So come!" He beckoned for me to follow him out the door.

"Uh, not likely," I said and launched myself at him.

Time seemed to slow as my foot made contact with the whitecoat's side. But, to my surprise, he caught it and twisted, and I ended up sprawled on the floor. _What the –?_

"Now, now," said the whitecoat. "You wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Huh?" I managed, staring up at him from the floor.

The whitecoat pulled off his lab coat and unbuttoned his shirt. I recoiled.

Underneath his clothes, the man had tough, reptilian skin, like an alligator. He smiled, revealing a forked tongue. "You are not the only mutant, yes?"

I mock-shuddered. "I'm _terrified_. Really quaking in my boots. Lizard men are my worst nightmare."

The whitecoat-lizard-thing did not take kindly to sarcasm. He grabbed me, pulling me roughly to my feet, and pointed to the cart. "It would be advised to take a seat."

I had no choice but to sit on the trolley. He quickly bound my hands and feet. There was no point worrying about the wings; we were inside a building.

"Come, come," he said, which was a bit unnecessary, as he was the one pushing the cart I was tied to.

The lizard man walked the trolley down the hallway. As we passed, I noticed the different doors leading into labs, the sterile white walls, and the nauseating smell of antiseptic.

 _Oh, no._

Was I in the School?

I strained against the cords tight against my skin to see inside the rooms we passed. There was nothing worse than the School. I'd have rather burned to death in the heat of Death Valley than be inside this building.

But as I caught a glimpse out of a window, my stomach plunged.

A busy street barely at ground level. An unsuspecting mass of people going about their daily business.

I wasn't in Death Valley.

I was in New York City.

 _The Institute._ A place where I had only been once before, and never hoped to go again.

Why did they want me here? The Institute knew how to create more avian hybrids; we'd seen that for ourselves. So why had Angel said that they wanted to make more of us?

It just didn't make sense. I was missing something.

"We are here, yes?" said the mutant whitecoat cheerfully, parking my cart next to a door at the end of the corridor.

"Yes, apparently so," I muttered derisively.

The lizard man pretended not to have heard. He unstrapped me from the trolley, flicking his tongue in and out. Before I could make a run for it, his clawed hands wrapped around my wrists and dragged me inside the room.

"The winged one is here," he said into the unlit room.

"Bring her in." The speaker's voice was not one I recognized.

The lights flicked on. I sucked in a breath.

It was the man with the snow-white beard from the laser jet. He was sitting in the center of the laboratory on top of a worktable.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You are not to ask questions," he responded.

The man glanced at the whitecoat mutant whose grip was cutting off the circulation from my wrists. "Don, you may leave," he said dismissively.

The lizard man let go of me and left, locking the door behind him.

"So, Mr. Mutant Hater, if I am 'not to ask questions', why was I graced with the invitation to join you here?" I asked.

The man's dark eyes met mine. "That is none of your concern."

"Oh, I do believe it is," I said lightly. "In fact, it's actually my _entire_ concern."

"No," said the man. "You should be concerned with where you will be in twenty years. You will be alone. Unless we do something."

"I'm not going to be _anywhere_ in twenty years," I snarled. "I'm sure my expiration date will kick in before then."

"You are wrong." The man stood up off the table. "I was there when it was decided."

I felt like the breath had been knocked out of me, but I didn't show it. He knew? Did I want to know?

Time for that later. "Anyway, I won't be alone. I have a family." I glared at him fiercely.

"Hardly," he said softly. "But why have them when you can have so much more?"

" _Because I don't want anybody else_. Like you would know what that's like," I snorted. "So, let's cut to the chase. Why am I here?"

The man slowly walked up to me. Wary of another lizard man episode, I kept my distance.

"Do you remember the experiments that you set free a short while ago?" he whispered. "We never caught them. All our carefully-planned data was eaten by one of them. We traced the saliva. Experiment T0T41. A genetically enhanced dog."

I mentally cheered for Total. He was safe at my mom's house at the moment.

"All our data was destroyed," the man continued. He was growing steadily louder. "So now we must reconstruct everything we lost."

I stared at him, nonplussed. What was he getting at?

"This is the real reason you are here," he said. "You must pay for what you have done." He was barely a foot away from me now. "We need a new subject."


	8. Fangalator to the Max

"How'd the Institute find us?" Gazzy asked, kicking at the leaf-strewn ground angrily.

Fang did not have an answer, but they did not need to know that. "The most important thing right now is to find Max."

"And Angel," Nudge piped up.

"Do you think they took Max all the way to New York?" Iggy questioned. He ran his hands over the engraved symbol on the crashed plane again as though he hoped it would disappear.

The others were silent. Fang knew exactly what they were all thinking: _Do we have to go?_

Despite his personal thoughts on the matter, Fang knew that the Institute was bad news. The flock couldn't just leave Max and Angel. An unknown enemy was better than facing the Institute; at least Max could have had the possibility of escaping.

Fang pondered the plan with the others circling him. They were almost certainly being led into a trap.

But there was no other option.

"Find a library," he said. "We need to find out if there are any other branches of the Institute."

"What if there's not?" the Gasman asked.

Fang pushed off into the air for momentum, spreading his dark wings wide. "Then New York it is."

He didn't check to see if Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge were following. The sudden sound of flapping was enough.

"So what crashed that laser jet, anyway?" he heard Iggy ask.

"No idea," said Gazzy.

"Hey guys?" Nudge asked worriedly. "What if, like, there's something worse than the Institute and the School and Itex out there? What if that something is what crashed the plane?"

"Nothing is worse than the School," the Gasman retorted.

"I know, but… you never really know, right?"

Fang had had enough. "Look for a library," he said loudly. The flock went silent.

They were flying above a small town now, with grocery stores and suburban ranch houses every couple of blocks. The forest they had come from was only a few miles away, but this place seemed as though it could have been adjacent to a city.

And then –

"Fang, is that a library?" Nudge asked.

It wasn't a very large or grand building unlike the one in New York City, but it still had an aura of _knowledge_ , somehow. Maybe that was because of the giant word "Knowledge" on top of the building.

Fang tilted his wing the slightest bit and shot into the library's shaded backyard.

"So, is this the place?" Iggy asked, landing behind him.

Fang nodded. He walked to the front of the building and found a sign.

 _The Township Public Library._

"Township of what?" Gazzy asked, peering in between Fang and Iggy to read the sign.

"Just a township, I guess," said Nudge from his side. "Like, a library for a township that doesn't say the township's name, because the township residents know their own public library, and only a non-township person wouldn't know the name of their town, but there would be no reason for one of them to come to a town without knowing the town's name…" Nudge trailed off, as though forgetting what point she was trying to make.

"Forget that I asked," Gazzy muttered.

"Aren't we going in?" Iggy asked, like Fang ignoring Nudge.

Fang nodded and led them inside.

"Wait, what about the last time we tried to Google the Institute?" Gazzy asked suddenly, stopping in the doorway. "We couldn't find _anything_."

Fang had already thought of this. "We're not Googling it," he said. "We're hacking it."

 **Yeah, so more of this will be explained in later chapters... and the reason I had Nudge forget what she was trying to say was because** ** _I_** **forgot what she was trying to say. ^-^**


	9. Demon to the Max

**Short chapter, I know. But it's good, according to Love. So enjoy.**

Angel studied the room of scientists solemnly. She was not happy about forcing Max to obey, but it had to be done. Max would never help willingly. But it was for a good cause.

Angel didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be special, and she wanted others to share that feeling. But she didn't want the normal people to be able to make her alone. If more people were bird kids like her, then they could overthrow the normal people. They could truly be special. Everyone would know it.

A scientist approached her with a lab sheet, taking notes. They could use _her_ to create more mutants, but one subject wasn't enough. Without Max, all the new hybrids would be Angel clones. Two subjects were needed to study the differences and similarities in order to create completely new bird kids.

After all, Angel didn't want to live with hundreds of clones.

"Is Max doing as she is told?" Angel asked the whitecoat. Despite how she felt about it, the formality was needed to make them treat her respectfully. Of course, they would do what she asked anyway, because they were under her mind control.

"Hardly," said the scientist, frowning. "But we have her in a conference with the leader at the moment. He will talk some sense into her."

"He won't be able to," Angel disagreed. "Max doesn't listen. You will have to just take her the way she is."

"Your ability would prove useful in helping her obey us," the whitecoat suggested. "You might want to–"

"No," said Angel forcefully. "It doesn't work on her, not the way it does on other people. I've tried. Jeb is right when he says she is destined for greatness. She is superior."

"We will bring her, then," said the scientist. "We must start recollecting data." With that, he moved away to work somewhere else.

Angel watched him leave. She wanted to be better than Max. To be able to control her. But she would have better than that soon. She would have a world of people like herself. And then she could be whoever she wanted.

Angel wouldn't have to hide her wings. No one would. Everyone could be free to be themselves, and no one could stop them.

And that was what Angel wanted.


	10. Mutants to the Max

**Almost there! I hope you're all loving this, and I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I was on vacation.**

 **Enjoy! ^-^**

They took me to another room. This one was filled with whitecoats, milling around crowded lab equipment. I tasted bile when the stench of antiseptic doubled.

"This is where you will be studied," the bearded man said. He had accompanied me into the room.

I met his gaze evenly and made no move to follow him.

"Come, Maximum. I would hate to damage you before we examine you."

"Unfortunately, I don't feel the same way about _damaging_ you," I retorted.

The man's eyes darkened. "You will come. Our scientists are mutants as well, so they are more than a match for you."

He strode ahead, not glancing back. I hesitated, wanting to escape but knowing it was a trap.

"Just try, winged one," whispered someone to my left. One of the whitecoats was staring at me with a persuasive smile. The lizard man, Don. "Try to escape, and we will see, yes? We will see who is faster. You," his forked tongue flicked out from between his teeth, "or I."

"That's all the incentive I need," I snarled, but before I could make a run for it, the bearded man turned around again and said one word.

"Guard."

The entire crowded room froze, and before I could process what was happening, the whitecoats leaped over desks with inhuman speed and agility to cover the exit.

The bearded man smiled calmly. "So, you see, much can happen to prevent your escape. Now, would you like to come forward?"

I had no choice in the matter. Feet feeling like they were made of lead, I dragged myself into the center of the room.

The next hour passed in a blur. The whitecoat-mutants spent the time making me do tests and run laps and so many other unspeakable things. It was just like the School.

Except for one thing. While I was exhausted physically and mentally by the end of the hour, at least they hadn't stuck poison in my arm or used especially painful methods of motivation. Like electric shocks or something. But I wouldn't put it past them.

The whole time, I took in details about the room. There would be no way to escape without somehow getting the whitecoats out of the equation. I couldn't do anything at the moment, but it was still a possibility.

"We are beginning the clones," announced the man with the white beard at the end of the hour. Apparently this was a big achievement, because he earned a round of applause.

"Clones, like what?" I asked one it had died down.

"We are experimenting," explained the man, looking down at me with a frown. "Soon, we will be able to merge our research with that of our second subject, creating a whole new life form."

Something he had said struck me. "Second subject?"

An unguarded figure came up behind him. My heart dropped. _Angel_.

"Hi, Max," she said in a tiny voice.

I glared hard at her, letting her know exactly how I felt about her in my mind.

"It's not so bad," she supplied nervously, reading my thoughts. "If you would –"

"Angel," I said through gritted teeth, "listen to me. I don't want people to go through what we do. I don't want to make clones."

"They're not clones!" she protested. "Soon there will be a whole new person with all new DNA. We won't be the only flock out there anymore."

I couldn't believe the insanity of that sentence. " _Angel_. I. Don't. Want. More. Flocks. One is all we need!"

Angel sighed, giving me sad eyes. "Maybe for you. But I'm alone."

That statement cut me deep. Angel, my angel, was tired with our life. She wasn't happy with the flock. But why?

"Oh, Max. I'm sorry, I really am, but you know our life is hard. And this would just make it a little bit easier."

"I'm not ever going to help you willingly," I choked out. "It will always be wrong."

The bearded man cleared his throat. "It is late. Don, please escort Maximum back to her sleeping quarters."

I was still staring at Angel as the mutant led me away.


	11. Bird Kids to the Max

**Sorry if this chapter is plot-holey or whatever, but it's a bit longer than usual, I think.**

Months earlier, Fang had come up with the great idea to check out the School on Google. Now that he thought about it, he should have tried it ages ago.

He had simply borrowed Max's sister Ella's laptop and found the School's website. On it was a link to – gasp! – the Institute's.

It had taken a few illegal YouTube videos and an eight-letter password, but eventually he had managed to hack the website. The cover-up images flashed, to be replaced with the real things the Institute did. Fang had searched the site for any interesting information, but there were too many links.

Now, however, the flock was looking for something specific. Fang had pulled up the website on the library's computer, and they gathered around.

"What are we doing?" Iggy asked. "And how will any of this give us an answer?"

"Simple," said Fang. "We have to find the 'Contact Us' section."

"And then it'll tell us where they are?" the Gasman guessed.

Fang nodded, turning back to the screen. He typed in the password.

A message popped up saying, "Wrong password."

"Let me try," said Nudge, scooting Fang over on the seat to make room for her.

Her hands hovered over the computer for a moment. She frowned. "It's not working. What if my power's broken or something?" she asked worriedly.

"It's not," said Fang thoughtfully. "Your power is to sort of feel the past. Nobody probably used this site before on this computer, so there's nothing you can do. See?"

Nudge frowned, her posture drooping. "Yeah. But what are we going to do now?"

Fang thought for a moment. "They probably change the password regularly. Ideas?"

"We could just go to New York," said Gazzy. "That's gotta be where the main Institute is."

Behind Fang, Iggy tensed. "Guys?" he whispered.

Fang casually glanced out of the corner of his eye at the space behind them. The door was blocked by a group of children.

" _Erasers?_ " Iggy mouthed.

"No."

Fang took note of the situation. Two of the children seemed smaller than the others, so that was where they should try to escape through.

"Eight o'clock," he murmured, barely audible. "Four seconds."

Which would have been fine, except one of the children walked right up to them and said, "I can hear what you're saying."

In unison, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy whirled around.

It was pretty obvious what each was thinking: _is this girl a mutant working for the School?_

"And I'm not afraid of you," she continued, her voice wavering. "You won't catch us. You think we wouldn't know who you are when you're searching your own company on a public computer?"

She looked about ten years old, with a bird's nest of brown hair and green-grey eyes. She seemed strangely familiar to Fang.

It took him a moment to realize what was happening. "We're not from the Institute," he said flatly.

"P-please," the girl said, "don't even try to lie. You're here for us, but we won't come."

"We're not with them!" Gazzy protested, also catching on.

"But there's no other…" the girl began, but suddenly fearful realization lit up her eyes. "Oh, wait a second! I think you're right!"

The flock exchanged confused looks.

"I'm sorry," she continued. "I remember you now! You're not working with them, right?"

Fang's eyes widened as he remembered her. "You're the other bird girl from the Institute."

Her eyes were huge, and she nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to hack the Institute's website," he replied, not elaborating. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"We've been on the run from the Institute ever since you freed us," she said quietly. Her eyes lost focus. "More than half of us have died, but at least we're still free."

One of the other children edged closer to them, hiding behind the older girl. This one was considerably neater. Fang recognized her as well as the younger bird girl at the Institute.

"I'm four," she said. "I don't speak too good."

The older girl hugged her affectionately and glanced up at the flock again. "Thank you again for saving us. And sorry for accusing you of being with them."

"It's okay!" said Nudge. "And it's so awesome we could see you again!"

"Let us know if you ever need any help," said the girl, and she led her troupe out the door of the library.

Fang had an idea. "Do you know the password for the Institute's website?" he called.

The girl smiled. "Yes. It's _Itexicon_."

And with that, the group of mutant misfits was gone.

Iggy let out a low whistle. "That was crazy."

"Yeah," said Gazzy. "Now are we going to hack the Institute?"

Fang nodded and typed in the password.

The screen loaded, and suddenly the words _INSTITUTES FOR HIGHER LIVING AND AERONAUTICS_ filled the screen.

"Click 'Contact Us,'" Nudge interjected.

Fang found the button and clicked. Words scrolled across the screen.

"Go back!" Nudge said suddenly.

Fang scrolled the other way.

"Stop."

He stopped on top of the words they were looking for.

"The Institute for Higher Living is located in New York," Fang said. "And _only_ New York."

"That settles it, then!" Iggy said, rolling his sightless eyes. "We spent all our time thinking that _maybe_ the Institute has other branches somewhere else, when we were just wasting time!"

"Come on," said Gazzy. "We have to go rescue Max and Angel!"

Fang followed the others as they led the way out of the library. Finally, _finally_ , they were on their way to save the missing members of their flock.


	12. Angimum to the Max

**Angimum is my own creation. As is my beautiful mutant with clear eyelids.**

I figured out early on that my room was not soundproof. Voices carried over from the adjacent labs, voices that I could decipher with a little concentration.

"The clone is ready," the first voice said. I could tell it was the bearded man.

"Perfect," said a small, light voice. Angel.

"We will prepare her for the next phase. In the meantime, I believe we should work on neutralizing the threat that we have spoken about."

"Yes," Angel's voice cut in, "I am working on it. The Erratics will be taken care of."

"I hope so."

I could almost hear Angel smiling coldly. "You have my word."

The sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, and I hurriedly leaned away from the wall to seem as though I hadn't been eavesdropping. A whitecoat with claw marks on one side of his face peered in through the tiny window of my door, watching me.

It took me a moment to realize why it sent shivers down my spine: the whitecoat had clear eyelids.

Each time it blinked, its eyes rolled back into its head. I shuddered. It grinned at me and disappeared.

I thought about what Angel had said in the room next door. Who were the Erratics? It sounded like some weird material arts club, but I seriously doubted that was what it was.

I was deep in thought when all of a sudden the fire alarm went off. Needless to say, I jumped at least three feet off my bed.

Before I could even begin to calm my racing heart, the door burst open and Don the lizard man rushed in.

"Let's go, yes," he growled, grabbing my arm and shoving me out the door.

All around us in the hallway, whitecoats were dashing about, cramming papers in briefcases and making for the nearest exits. Don led me right past the panicking scientists into the last room at the end of the hall.

And – oh, joy! – the bearded man was inside.

"We're leaving," he said briskly, ushering me farther into the room.

"Wait, what's happening?" I asked, resisting Don's grip.

"Security breach," the man said shortly. "We must get to the helicopter on time. Come."

Don shoved me forward and I glanced at the room we were in. Everything was like a normal lab. Except for the giant steel barricade of a door with an LED exit sign hanging above it, that is.

The man led the way through the door, which took us into a dark spiral stairwell going up, lit only by the pale florescent strips on the ceiling.

He walked quickly, making Don practically drag me along after him. Unfortunately, his grip was still just as strong as usual. I would have to wait for a distraction to escape.

We came to the end of the stairs, where another heavily locked door blocked us. The bearded man typed in the password and swung it open.

Bright light filled the hallway, and I realized we were outside on top of the building.

Don made me walk out onto the roof. The chopper on the helipad took up most of the space, but there was also a vending machine and a small garden. Evil gardeners?

Everything seemed in place otherwise.

"So, what tripped the alarm?" I asked, glancing around at the vast city sky. If I could just get loose long enough to get open my wings….

Then I saw exactly what tripped the alarm. My heart soared.

Three winged figures were swooping and diving in the air around the building, throwing small objects into windows.

The bearded man took out a walkie-talkie from inside his formal suit. "Backup requested on roof. Bring weaponry!"

He ceased speaking once Fang dropped a stink bomb on top of him.

"My invention!" Gazzy shouted, doing a flip in the air. "So other people can _reproduce_ my _talents_!"

Iggy flew beside him, tossing a few explosives to incapacitate the helicopter.

"Where's Nudge?" I yelled, counting down the seconds until I would join them.

"Quiet, prisoner –" Don started, but then Fang landed beside me and punched him in the face. Mutant or no, the lizard man went out like a light.

"Working on the security," he replied, glancing at me. "Angel?"

I sighed. "About that…"

At that moment, the door burst open. Reinforcements filed outside, but immediately recoiled once the smell of Gazzy's stink bombs hit their noses.

All but two, that is. Angel….

And another girl.

"Who's that?" I growled, advancing toward Angel.

She smiled sadly at me. "Max," she said. "Meet Angimum."

 **YEESS! Angimum to the Max! Guess who, everybody!**


	13. Mind Control to the Max

Angimum's strange blue-brown eyes and curly caramel-colored hair weren't her only defining characteristics. She was about five feet tall, thin, and perfect-looking in every way.

I instantly hated her guts.

"What kind of a name is Angimum?" I asked, not taking my gaze away from the girl. She looked somehow _wrong_ to me. "Can't they just call her Mabelle or something?"

"You know why," said Angel patiently.

"No, I really don –" I started, but then it hit me.

Angimum was the clone.

I shivered with realization. It was so disturbing, so vile, I couldn't believe it.

The clone smiled at me politely. "Hello," she said, glancing at the surrounding chaos. "Are you planning on leaving?"

"Uh, yeah," I said.

Angimum shrugged. "If you insist."

I practically did a double take. "Um, what?"

This time Angel answered. "Max, they don't need you to stay anymore. They have what they need, right?" she said, almost pleading.

I fixed her with my fiercest glare. That shut her up.

Unfortunately, Angimum seemed to be too dim to understand my pot was bubbling over. "They _do_ need another subject, a male, though," she said brightly.

I became all too aware of Fang beside me. Before anyone could do anything, I was on top of the creepy clone, punching her in the face. The face that looked almost exactly like mine.

But the clone had some tricks up her sleeve. She rolled out from under me, grabbing my arms and pinning me to the ground before I could get a sweeping kick in.

"I have been ordered not to harm you," she said in a low voice, "but if you want to start a fight, by all means go ahead."

I struggled and she let me up. I really hated that clone.

"If Max is allowed to go, then why didn't they let her out before?" Fang asked, not taking his gaze away from her.

Angel glanced at Angimum for a split second and looked back at us. "Angimum wasn't ready then," she said with a "no duh" expression.

"Why does it matter?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

Angel smiled, but I detected a hint of another emotion underneath. Bitterness? Regret? "Oh, it doesn't really," she said simply.

I looked from her to the clone. "Okay…."

"Go and leave if you want to," Angimum said as Gazzy and Iggy tossed bombs overhead.

We only had minutes to get out of there before more reinforcements would come. I had to make one of my famous decisions.

"Okay. We're outta here," I said, clapping my hands together. "Iggy, get Nudge. Gazzy, blow up the roof exit in case our friends from the Institute want to hold us back. Up and away!"

"One moment," said Angel to me, like you could just pause an escape. She nodded at the clone, who turned her gaze on me.

"Max, you have the option to leave, but they really don't _want_ you to," Angimum said, smiling insincerely. "We would just like you to know that it would make us happy if you would stay."

That was the most outrageous statement ever. I opened my mouth to tell her so, maybe in a less nice way, but all of a sudden I couldn't. I was just left staring at her.

"…Okay," I found myself saying. "Sure."

"Max?" Fang said, but I ignored him.

"I… sure. I'll stay if you want," my mouth continued. What… was I saying? I found it hard to concentrate. But really, I could stay with them. It wouldn't be too bad, not if they wanted it.

Oh. Nuts.

Angimum was part me, part Angel. She inherited Angel's powers.

I was being mind-controlled.


	14. The Erratics to the Max

**In which questions are asked...**

Nudge tapped the screen impatiently. They had infiltrated the Institute as soon as the four of them had arrived, and she was stuck with the job of disabling this and that. Personally, she felt a bit alone in the dark circuit room, but it was probably better than going out there with stink bombs.

Three files popped up on screen. One was security. Another was information. This could be of use later. And the third file was simply titled "Adversaries."

Nudge immediately went to the first one, disabling as many things as possible on the computer. Then she took a moment to ponder over the other files.

"Adversaries" looked interesting. She decided to click on it.

Immediately, a list of documents filled the screen. Nudge scanned them for anything useful.

 _"They were here again today. Several stole information regarding the newest experiment. We had to postpone our work due to this. They came in a jet, much like ours, except it appeared to be improved greatly. It easily wiped out our defenses and came after us._

 _"Our current leader, Bromeus, barely made it out. He was ambushed by two of them. Their unknown director commanded them to capture him and the head of the Clone Project, but they managed to escape._

 _"There is no other information on the Erratics of New York."_

Nudge stared at the screen. She remembered the laser jet that had mysteriously crashed in the forest. She had been right. Something bigger was out there.

This wasn't good; she had to tell the others. Hopefully they had found Max already, and nothing had gone wrong.

And just who were the Erratics?

There was no time to worry, although she was worrying quite a bit. The mystery group could wait for Max.

Before she left, Nudge hit the print button. She grabbed the page as soon as it shot out of the printer and made a dash for the door, but something outside the window caught her attention.

It was a big, red and black rocket, consuming her entire view.

"Uh-oh," she squeaked.

It looked like she was about to get answers sooner than she expected.

 **So! I was going to update yesterday, but as you probably know was having problems. Soon, I might not be able to update as often anyway because of school. It's that time of year again, folks!**

 **I was going to call this chapter "Nudgey-Nudge-Nudge to the Max," but I didn't think you'd like that very much. And it's kinda long. So here's to the Erratics!**

 **See ya next chapter.**


	15. Divide and Conquer to the Max

"That's it, Max," said Angimum sweetly. "Angel can't sway you, but I can. Because you _want_ to come with us."

"You're right…" I said. She was right, right?

"Max," Fang said again, stronger this time.

"I'm sorry, Fang," I murmured, already walking the other way, "but I… I have to go. It's nothing personal. Sorry."

"What are you doing to her?" Fang's voice said quietly.

Angel smiled, but she looked sort of resentful. "Nothing," she said, not looking away from me.

I glanced at Angimum for confirmation. She nodded. She was right.

For some reason Angel seemed even more aggrieved by this. But that didn't matter, because I was coming along.

Oh, but I shouldn't be mind-controlled. I had to… to stop it.

But it was so hard to think, to resist. And Angimum was right; I had to go with her.

 _Stop it._

But I couldn't. I walked to stand with the two of them.

Fang grabbed my wrist, but I pulled away. "Max," he said again. Angimum smiled, showing perfect teeth, and I could no longer hear him.

Angel sighed painfully. "I don't want to have to put you under my control too, Fang," she said.

"Max isn't under your control," he said. "She's under the clone's."

Angel's face darkened, and even through my foggy haze, I could see he'd hit her weak spot. "If you insist," she retorted.

But before the six year old could make good on her promise, a gigantic spaceship came down from the sky.

Now, I don't know about you, but being abducted by aliens isn't the first thing on my "To-Do" list.

It might be third or fourth, right next to buying groceries, but never first. Either way, I hadn't expected it.

Apparently, neither had Angimum, because her hold on me vanished and she shrieked, "Hit the deck!"

The few remaining whitecoats did as they were told, some rolling behind the vending machine and others into the garden. A smart idea, as it turned out, because a hailstorm of bullets suddenly assaulted the rooftop.

"What kind of UFO doesn't shoot lasers?" I said, but Fang snagged my arm and pulled me under the cover of the charred and exploded helicopter. The Institute was going to get some nasty budget cuts.

The Gasman and Iggy were already there, pale and clutching explosive stink bombs.

"What the heck is going on?" Iggy asked, wings spread out slightly behind him. I opened my own as well.

"We're getting attacked, obviously," I snapped. "By who, I don't know. But we have to get out of here."

"Duck," Fang advised, just as a grenade exploded above our heads.

We all glanced around, and then Gazzy said, "But we can't do that. Nudge is still in the building. And…"

He looked towards the front of the roof, where Angel and the clone were dodging their way to safety. The unspoken words lingered. We had to get Angel.

"Gazzy," I stressed. "She's made her choice. There's nothing we can do."

He looked up at me desperately, and my heart nearly broke from the expression on his face. "But she's my _sister_ ," he said.

I tore my eyes away. "Fine. Gazzy and Iggy, go try to talk some sense into her. Don't stray into the line of fire, and don't take more than twenty minutes. She doesn't come, that's her fault. Fang, I want you to go get Nudge."

"Max," Fang said, but I ignored him.

"We'll meet at the closest rendezvous spot, in Central Park, I think. I be going inside that spaceship, and –"

"Max," Fang said again, a little louder this time.

"What?" I said, irritated.

"You're not going in there alone."

I met his steely gaze eye for eye. There was a reason I was flock leader.

"Yes, I am," I said. Not giving him time to argue, I threw myself into the open, snapping out my wings.

The bullets rained down on me, but I maneuvered into the air, flying too fast for the giant jet plane to track.

There were no hatches, no places I could see for a point of entry, but there was one open window.

Where the weapons were shooting from.

Great, I thought as I swerved around a luckily tossed grenade. Just my luck.

The guns were, of course, automated. There was no sniper for me to drop-kick out of the way.

I observed the monstrous red and black jet. Something about it seemed familiar….

Of course! It looked just like the one in the forest, except it was red on some parts and it was obviously much, much bigger.

How that helped me, I didn't know. But it was a start.

Wait a second.

If the one in the forest had a secret door, than this one must have one too.

I dove from high in the air, straight for where I hoped the door was. At the last second, praying I wasn't about to be shot to bits, I swung my feet forward, the momentum carrying me right into the side of the jet.

It didn't even make a dent.

I cursed. There was no time. I had to do something.

Maybe a secret button opened the door? I was grasping at straws.

But I tried anyway. I ran my hand along the smooth surface, flapping hard to stay aloft. Nothing. I was going to die. Come on, Max. I couldn't let that happen.

There! I blinked sweat out of my eyes. Was that just a screw, or did I find a magic button?

Nope, just a screw. Nuts.

I kicked the jet in frustration. "Ow!" I hissed, realizing for the first time that I was missing a shoe.

At that moment, the side of the jet sighed, and suddenly the door was sliding open.

A woman stood in the opening. Her hair was mahogany-colored, making her amber eyes stunning. Well, the regal blood-red dress helped too.

She was holding a remote in one hand. The door-opener.

"Join me?" she asked. Her voice was just as regal as her dress.

I spluttered, almost forgetting to flap.

If the woman was ruffled, it didn't show.

She smiled slightly, watching me struggle to stay in the air. "Come in, Maximum Ride. I believe you want an explanation."


	16. Running out of Names to the Max

**Sooo... Yeah. Well, this is a chapter.**

Fang silently fumed as he watched Max fly away. She was so infuriating. So what if she thought she could handle herself? She was flying into certain death. The least she could do was take some backup.

But she was also right. He had to help Nudge.

Gazzy and Iggy were looking at him (well, not Iggy so much), waiting to hear what to do. First he had to get them inside the building, and then he had to get _himself_ inside.

Fang addressed them calmly. "You're going in there in three seconds. Find Angel and the clone, and get out of there. Got it?"

"Got it," the Gasman replied, while Iggy muttered, "This is suicide."

Fang glared at him, but it was of course wasted.

"Should we take protection?" Gazzy asked. "Against the bullets?"

Fang nodded, and the two other bird kids picked up some pieces of twisted metal from the demolished helicopter. Holding the fragments in front of them, they counted to three.

"One… two… three."

Gazzy and Iggy streaked through the chaos, as fast as any mutant the school had created. Not faster than Max, of course. But still plenty fast enough to escape the shower of bullets.

As soon as they made it inside through the rooftop door, Fang returned to his own situation. Nudge was down in the tech room. He could either follow Gazzy and Iggy, or go through a window.

He chose the second option. Snapping out his dark wings, he let himself fall over the edge of the roof.

The tech room was on the third floor on the left, as Fang remembered, so all he had to do was get through the window.

He located it easily, soaring down to it. Inside were dozens of whirring computers and equipment. But where was Nudge?

Although it might have been unwise, Fang banged a fist against the window.

No Nudge. Had she been captured?

Fang fiddled with the window. Locked.

At that moment, the door opened.

Fang ducked out of sight, clinging to the window ledge. Slowly, he raised his head back up.

He sighed with relief. Nudge was back in the room, this time with rolls of duct-tape. He watched from behind the glass as she hurriedly taped the door shut. Her eyes were wide, but she moved with speed.

When she turned around to secure the window and caught sight of Fang, all the worry dropped from her face. With a squeal that Fang couldn't hear, she raced to the window and opened it from the inside, tackling him in a hug.

"Oh my gosh, Fang! I thought something terrible happened, when I saw the rocket and all, and you'll never believe what I found! There was all this information in, like, the files, and I found out about this other group, like the school, only worse!"

Fang shushed her. "Nudge. We've got a problem."

Nudge's smile drooped. "Oh, no. What happened?" she asked.

Fang glanced out the open window. The sound of gunfire could still be heard. "Max is gone. That group you were talking about? Went off to go inside the jet."

Nudge covered her mouth. Fang could tell she was trying to stop a flurry of questions from escaping her mouth.

"Gaz and Ig left to find Angel," he continued. "That's not going to end well."

Nudge cocked her head. "What do you mean?" she couldn't help asking. "Where's Angel?"

Fang remembered too late that she didn't know about the turn of events.

"Not important," he said. Ignoring her worried, wide-eyed look, he said to her, "Now let's go."

"Where?" she asked.

Fang crossed the room and stripped away the duct-tape from the door. "To help Gazzy and Iggy."


	17. Siblings to the Max

The Gasman bounded down the staircase with Iggy behind him. So what if Angel was seriously messed up? He could change her mind; after all, she was his sister.

Yep. Gazzy told himself that.

"A little help here?" said Iggy with annoyance from behind him.

"Sorry," Gazzy muttered, helping his fellow flock member to the spiraling rail. "It goes down, in a corkscrew."

"How many steps?"

Gazzy tried not to show annoyance in his voice when he replied, "How would I know?"

Iggy rolled his eyes. "Fine. How _far down_ does it _look_?"

Gazzy peered into the darkness. "Not sure."

" _Thanks_."

They didn't talk the rest of the way down. Gazzy was too anxious to care. He couldn't stop thinking about Angel. There was a knot in his stomach that he couldn't get rid of.

They reached the end of the stairwell. Gazzy let Iggy know and they exited through a door.

They came out inside a lab. Equipment was knocked over, as though someone had rushed to escape through the roof exit.

"Is she here?" asked Iggy tensely.

"Nope," Gazzy whispered. "Empty."

He picked his way around overturned chairs to the front of the lab. There was another door.

"Come on," he said, his soft voice echoing in the silent room.

Iggy followed him without a comment. Gazzy was suddenly grateful for his company.

They walked slowly and cautiously out the next door and into the sterile, white-walled hallway. Everything was eerily quiet. There was nobody in sight.

Except for the two girls in the center of the hall, that is.

Gazzy felt the knot in his stomach tighten. "Angel."

Angel, at least, had the grace to look upset. The Angel-Max clone, however, smiled brightly.

"The Gasman, right?" she said casually, pointing at him. "And Iggy? Angel's told me so much about you."

"That's good to know," said Iggy sarcastically. "I'd _hate_ to think she left me out."

Gazzy gave him a fleeting glance, but Angimum's smile widened. "Yes. That would be terrible."

Gazzy clenched his fists, focusing on Angel, whose gaze hadn't left him. "Angel," he stressed. "Come with us. Whatever you're doing – whatever _this_ is – it's not worth losing us. I don't know why you're doing this, but we need you. You're my _sister_. _Please_." His voice broke.

Angel and the clone studied him. Really, the likeness was incredible. Both of them had curly hair, fair skin, and petite features. But while Angimum had a cold, calculating look, Angel seemed almost thoughtful.

"You don't understand our plan," Angimum said first. "Our future."

She looked down at him, losing the fake smile. "I am here to build a society. A new race. The more avian hybrids there are, the less alone you all will be. We will be able to walk through human cities with our wings out. No one will have to hide. We won't be afraid anymore."

It was an impressive speech. Gazzy was nearly almost just about converted.

But there were holes in their plan. "Having more people like you doesn't make you happy," he pointed out. "Being loved does."

Angel stared at the ground. "Love has nothing to do with it," she said. "We will be free for once. That is what we want."

Gazzy's fists shook. He was filled with sudden, inexplicable fury. They had done something to his sister. There was no way she was doing this of her free will. They had to fix her somehow.

Iggy laid a hand on his shoulder. Gazzy's rage deflated. No, Angel was doing this purely because she wanted to. There wasn't anything he could do.

"Angel…" he whispered.

She looked up at last. In her eyes was the resolve and hatred that got rid of all his doubt.

Angel wouldn't be coming with them.

"I hope you enjoy your last moments of free will," she said sharply. Never had Angel sounded so un-angelic.

Angimum smiled at them again. "Nighty-night!"


	18. We Are to the Max

**Back to Max! If you need to, reread her last chapter.**

I had no choice, really. It was either "join her" or die.

Gripping the sides of the hatchway, I crawled from midair into the rocket. There was a soft shag carpet underneath me. How lovely.

"Come this way, Maximum," she said, walking smoothly over to my left. "We have a special room for discussion. It comes in handy for parties, planning, and negotiating."

She let out a small bark of a laugh, as though she'd just made a joke. Maybe for her, she had.

Annoyed, I stood shakily to my feet and was about to give her a piece of my mind when I noticed the room.

It was extremely small, but well decorated. A glowing chandelier, an expensive-looking cabinet, and some framed paintings on the wall was all it took to make this place fit for royalty.

That raised a question. "Why are you bringing me in here?"

The woman's smile stretched less than an inch. "Please just follow me. Then we will talk."

She walked down the left hallway, her high heels clacking on the polished floor once she'd walked off the carpet.

I debated putting up a fight, but really, it wasn't worth my time. And anyway, how bad could they be? They were working against the Institute. And as they say, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

Looks like I was going to see if that was true.

I limped after the woman. She took me into a larger room, decorated only by a few fruit paintings and a very long table, the sort of table you'd see in an office building.

"Please, take a seat," she said, sitting down majestically at the head of the table.

I stood.

A gazillion hours later, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hall once more, and about half a dozen more fancily-dressed people came in and took seats.

"Ah, so this is Maximum Ride," one said.

"Isn't she… charming?" another murmured, taking in my ripped and bloody clothes.

The woman in the red dress banged on the table. Everyone fell silent.

"Erratics!" she said, sounding less composed and more like a battle leader. "This is Maximum Ride. We will be answering all of her questions, regardless of secrecy. In return, she will supply us with the details necessary to invade the Institute!"

"Wait a minute. I never agreed to that," I objected.

She ignored me. "We will take that horrific place, and flush out any so-called scientists who oppose us!"

I practically expected her to shout some cheesy line, like "Because we are _the Erratics!"_ but she didn't.

Instead, she calmed down, let her army of bloodthirsty businessmen dissolve into excited whispers for a bit, and said to me, "Okay, Maximum. Max, if you like. You may begin your queries."

I blinked. Suddenly there were seven sets of eyes staring at me. I really wished I had taken a seat.

"Um," I started. That alone made several people look distinctly annoyed. "Well, first of all, who are you?"

The woman in the dress smiled. "I am Victoria Meyer. You may call me the Commander of the Erratics."

I curled my hands into fists. "And who are the Erratics?"

"The enemies of the Institute, the School, and any other horrible place."

"Why?"

She almost looked amused. "We have power," she said. "We'd rather use it to help people than not. As often as possible, we sabotage the Institute and take an experiment. Then we give it the most comfortable place to die in, as most do not make it very long."

I took a step back. That was horrible. "What about the ones who survive?"

She nodded at my question. "We let them join us."

I glanced at the six other people. "You mean…" I started.

She laughed that sharp laugh. "No, we haven't had a surviving organism yet. But we are hoping."

I tried to focus. "And what do you want with me?" I asked.

"Only help infiltrating the Institute. As successful as we are, we do not have the layout of the building. We would like your help getting it."

It didn't seem like that was all, but I didn't press it. We were short on time.

"How did you know about me?" I finally decided to ask.

The Commander of the Erratics paused. "We have spies at the School," she said softly. "They have been keeping track of the only hybrids to escape."

I nodded. The flock.

The woman looked at her elegant wrist as though it had a watch. "Time is running out," she said. "We must go in and rescue them."

"Who?" I cut in.

She glanced at me with an irritated look that I'd seen often in the past hour. "The two mutants still in there, of course."

"Huh?"

She shocked me utterly and completely by replying, "The ones who call themselves Angel and Angimum."


	19. Commanding to the Max

**Ugh. I had the whole first scene of this chapter written, but then I went on Microsoft Word to find out that – surprise! – it hadn't saved. I literally shouted "Noooo!" and tried to pretend I was imagining it. So maybe this chapter isn't as perfect as I had intended, because I had to REWRITE it. Whatever.**

 **For some reason it feels like it's been a while since I've written. Well, if that is the case, it most likely involves the** ** _amazing_** **things I've been reading lately!**

 **So, here you go! Need a refresher? By all means, go ahead and look back on last chapter, because this is in Max's POV once again!**

I could only stare at her. "What?"

"That's right," Victoria Meyer confirmed. "We must help. That is our duty."

"But…" I started. I'd given up on Angel. And Angimum was evil through and through, as far as I was concerned. Plus, it wasn't like they'd be willing to leave.

"We have never saved a mutant before," she said. "No matter what, we will at least try."

I blinked, and blinked again. "They're never going to join you peacefully."

She nodded like she'd heard that before. "It never hurts to try. And for the Erratics, that is something worth doing."

I couldn't help smiling suddenly at the thought of this specially-trained rebel group dragging a kicking and screaming Angel out of the Institute. She deserved it.

"Okay," I said, crossing my arms. "I'll help. But that's it. Then I'm leaving with my flock."

The Commander of the Erratics seemed to find this amusing, but she only said, "Then that is all."

To the people seated around her, she declared loudly and suddenly, "We must fight! There is a way inside the Institute, and now, while its weakness is exposed, we shall seize our chance! Come! As cliché as it is, time is of the essence!"

In one grand movement, Victoria Meyer stood and walked gracefully out of the room, her red dress swishing at her ankles. The sound of chairs squeaking and creaking filled the room as the other fancily-dressed people exited after her. I hurriedly followed them out.

Victoria was standing at the exit, issuing orders and sending her team outside. Things had cleared up now, by the looks of it, and the Institute's roof was empty of survivors. The Erratics filed out of the jet and entered the Institute.

"What do you need me to do again?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

Victoria met my gaze evenly. "Simply guide my soldiers into the Chambers. I trust you know where they are?"

"Oh, definitely," I lied. "Um, would that be… the upper Chambers or the lower Chambers?"

Victoria rolled her eyes, which seemed odd considering her formal appearance. "Whichever one holds their secrets, Maximum," she said. Looking at the nonexistent watch on her wrist, she added, "Well, I must be off. You should be, too, otherwise you will have quite some trouble locating the rest of the Erratics."

I nodded and jumped to the ground, walking jauntily across the rooftop and into the open doorway. All the while, my heart was sinking. There was no way I'd be able to lead the Erratics into the heart of the Institute. There was only one option.

I couldn't cross paths with the Erratics.

Walking slowly down the dark spiral staircase, I retraced my steps from earlier, when I'd been forced to exit the building. Only, this time, when I reached the hallway, I turned in the opposite direction.

I could just barely hear the sound of the "stealthy" Erratics sneaking down the hall in the other direction. Really, if I could hear them, Angel and Angimum could pick up on them just fine. But it didn't matter, because I would be avoiding both parties.

But what was I doing, anyway? Fang had probably gotten Nudge by now, and Iggy and Gazzy had surely given up trying to reason with Angel. They all were most likely already at the new rendezvous point, waiting oh-so patiently for me to arrive.

But hey, I was at the Institute anyway, so I should at least see if they were still here.

I kept walking, listening for sounds of other people or whitecoats, but there was nothing. I just strode down halls upon halls of polished white concrete.

Eventually, all the twists and turns made me begin to feel lost. More than that. I didn't even know what floor I was on. I couldn't waste time dealing with it, though, so I made the snap decision to just keep walking. Surely, I reasoned, I'd reach a landmark, or a window, or _something_ , sooner or later.

It was at that precise moment that I rounded the corner to come within ten feet of Angel's back.

I almost let out a sound, alerting her to my presence, but somehow I managed to stifle my surprise. Sliding behind the corner, I peered out at her, my heart hammering. That was _close_!

She wasn't facing me. She and the clone, who was standing beside her, were looking at something farther down the hallway.

I muted another sound of surprise. Gazzy and Iggy!

Angimum began to speak. "You don't understand our plan. Our future."

I tasted bile. I was going to smash that genetic freak's head in once I got the chance.

But now wasn't the time. I had to help Gazzy and Iggy, and I couldn't do that by rushing blindly in (despite what Fang thinks I would've done).

Retreating farther behind the wall, I prepared myself to listen to the rest of their conversation.

 **Just to warn you, you should probably remember the Chambers. For future reference. Probably.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	20. Playtime to the Max

**I decided Angel sounds cheap and OOC, but how to change it? I found that I just couldn't. Maybe next time. For now, she's going to be weird.**

Nudge tried to catch up with Fang as he flew down the hall. Questions raced through her mind. What was going on? Were Max and Angel okay? Where were Iggy and the Gasman?

But she didn't speak. Instead, she just hurried after Fang, forcing air into her lungs.

Suddenly, Fang stopped dead at the corner, and Nudge almost ran into him. She propelled herself backwards, making her sneakers squeak on the polished floor.

The sound echoed loudly in the corridor. Nudge froze.

"Who's there?" a sharp, cold voice asked. Nudge knew that voice. Angel.

But she didn't understand what it meant. Was Angel fighting someone? Why did she sound so… vicious?

Fang held a hand in front of her mouth. He stared at her. The meaning was clear: don't speak or we're dead.

But why?

Nudge gasped. Surely, _surely_ , Angel wasn't… on the dark side?

She looked at Fang with wide eyes, then at the corner, then at him again. He gave a silent nod, once, and her heart sank.

It couldn't be. It just wasn't possible.

The sudden sound of footsteps, loud and powerful, reverberated through the hallway, coming closer and closer to the bend in the corridor. Fang tensed beside her.

A girl about Nudge's age rounded the corner and almost bumped into her. Her cruel expression relaxed into a bright smile, but not before Nudge could notice it. Who was this? What did it mean?

"Ooh, Fang," the girl said. "Come to join the party? I must say, you look positively _delicious_."

Fang swung out, sweeping her legs from under her and catching her by surprise. Unfortunately, the girl managed to catch herself and spring to her feet, teeth bared. Fang aimed a roundhouse kick at her head, but she ducked and came at him.

Nudge was stunned. What was going on, who on earth was this girl, and most importantly, _where was Angel?_

Her question was answered when she took a peek around the corner.

Angel's expression, hard and calculating, didn't change as she watched Fang and the girl fight. She just stood there calmly, next to…

"Oh my gosh!" Nudge shouted, forgetting Fang's rule about quiet. "Gazzy! Iggy!"

The Gasman met her gaze with sorrowful eyes. Nudge wondered what was wrong.

Iggy, on the other hand, brightened. "Good," he murmured, smiling. "At least the band's back together."

Nudge frowned. What was that supposed to mean? But, right now, she had other things to deal with.

"Nudge."

Nudge turned her attention to Angel, who still looked impassive as ever. A million thoughts raced across her mind. What was Angel thinking? Why, _why_ , was she doing this?

Angel furrowed her brow. " _Nudge_ ," she said again. Her voice was soft and pleading, not matching the expression at all. "Please. I don't want to fight. I just want Angimum. I just want to fit in."

Nudge took a step back. "Angimum? What are you talking about? What's going on?"

Angel took a steadying breath, keeping the irritated look off her face. "Angimum is the bird girl over there. Now, please listen to me, Nudge." She tried to look like a young, innocent girl, the person Nudge had thought she was, but it didn't work. "I just want us to have a better future."

"Yeah – yeah, right!" Nudge snapped, sounding very un-Nudge-like. She took another step back, trying to fight the tears.

Angel sighed, shaking her head sadly and looking at the floor. "I'm sorry, Nudge." She raised her head and met Nudge's worried gaze. "It's time to play."

 **Yeah, yeah – I know, cheap line, "It's time to play," sounds like "Time to die," Angel's most famous quote. But whatever. We'll see.**


	21. Tranq'ed to the Max

Things seemed to happen in slow motion. I watched from around the corner as Angel turned the full force of her mind control on the Gasman, Iggy, and Nudge, while the clone ducked Fang's swing and said in a calm voice, "Stop moving, Fang."

I clenched my fists as Fang froze, a look of pain taking the place of his intense expression. Jeez, I was going to _murder_ that clone.

Fight it, Fang, I thought. Come on.

And fight it he did. Or at least that's what seemed to be happening. He had stopped moving, true, but that expression of cold fury couldn't be tamed by even the likes of Angimum.

She didn't care, though. Flipping her buoyant brown curls over her shoulder, she turned to Angel, asking, "Should we go to the Chambers now?"

I blinked in surprise. It took me a moment to realize that she'd really said it. The Chambers, what the Commander of the Erratics had spoken about. Finally, a stroke of luck!

Angel nodded curtly. "One moment."

She turned her attention to Gaz, Ig, and Nudge, switching on a cute-and-adorable face. "Guys, could you follow me please?" Her honeyed tone made me sick.

They nodded in a confused sort of way. "But Angel… you're doing horrible things…" Nudge murmured, but Angel glared at her and she fell silent.

"Come on, guys!" she said cheerily. They nodded, frowns creasing their features.

"Angel," Gazzy whispered, almost to himself. "You're not my sister."

Angel whipped her head around to look at him, a hurt expression flashing across her face for a split second before she wiped it away. "Follow me," she said again, and the flock members trailed after her.

"Tie Fang up," she said to Angimum. "I don't trust him."

As the clone went to do her bidding, Angel added, apparently to the flock, "And before we go to the Chambers… I should probably take care of you, right, Max?"

My stomach dropped faster than a bowling ball. Before I could run, Angel was right in front of me, skinny arms crossed.

"Do you really think you could hide?" she asked. "I can read minds. I knew you were there."

Oops.

"Oh, really?" I snarled, attempting to sound intimidating even though we both knew I was already defeated. "Then why can't you _control_ my mind?"

I noticed with satisfaction that I had struck a nerve. Trying not to show her obvious anger, Angel responded, "You know why, Max. You're special."

I smirked. "And you're not?"

Her face darkened. "You're beaten, Max," she snapped. "Even if I cannot control you, Angimum can. And besides, I have the flock under my control. All it would take would be one little command…"

I shot out my fist, but she dodged. "Never threaten them," I growled. "Never threaten my family. They might not be enough for you, but listen to me; if you hurt them, I will do worse things to you."

I hadn't outright said "kill" and Angel knew why, based on her smug expression. She knew that I could never hurt her permanently. She would always be important to me, no matter how horrible she was, because I would always remember the version of her before this.

She shrugged unapologetically, stepping out of my attack range. "I'm really sorry, Max," she said, not sounding sorry at all, "but I have to kill you now."

She looked away to give directions to the spellbound flock. _Of course_ , that was when all hell broke loose.

I spotted them first. My eyes widened, and I tried to block my thoughts from Angel.

Obviously it didn't work, because Angel's eyes mirrored mine, and she whirled around.

But not fast enough.

The tranquilizer dart hit her in the arm, and she dropped to the ground with a light thump.

"Max…" the Gasman murmured, coming out of the trance Angel had put him in along with the rest of the flock.

I shook my head at him to be quiet, not removing my gaze from the figures standing at the other end of the hallway.

Were they mad that I'd abandoned them? Did they want me to lead them to the _Chambers_ , whatever the freaking Chambers were?

The group moved closer, slowly and apprehensively. I gave a halfhearted wave. "Long time no see, huh?" I muttered. I wondered if they knew that I'd left them hanging. Probably. But whatever the case, one thing was certain, I knew as they came closer.

The Erratics had come.

 **Okay, cheap chapter ending, I know, but I just needed to write that.** ** _The Erratics had come_** **. Lol, I needed that.**


	22. Pyros to the Max

**Okay, I know I've been away for a while, I know this chapter is super short, and I know that it might kinda stink, but I'm having what some people might call** ** _writer's block_** **. Sorry. But anyway, this chapter reminds me of a book I read last month, because BOOM.**

"Maximum," the sunglasses-wearing leader of the group said. I couldn't tell if his voice sounded friendly or not. "It seems we were separated earlier. But now that we have found you, we can continue the mission."

I knew what he was going to say, but I cringed anyway.

"The Chambers, please. Whenever you are ready."

"What… what's happening?" Iggy asked as he, Nudge, and Gazzy blinked off Angel's mind control. They looked to me with confusion.

"Um," I said to both them and the Erratics. "Funny thing. You see, I don't really know where the Chambers are." An expression of surprise overtook the organization, and I hurried on, "But you know that girl you just took out, saving our lives?" I pointed at Angel, splayed on the tile floor. "Thanks, by the way. Well, she knows. Just wake her up, somehow block her powers, and _voila_ , there you have it."

They stared at me, then at Angel. One, probably the brightest in their sad little bunch, said, "You are supposed to know where the Chambers are. You were held captive in the Institute; you should know."

I rolled my eyes. "The only _Chambers_ I know of are the bathrooms, so _sorry_ to disappoint."

The Erratics, unaccustomed to my sarcasm, glanced at each other with raised eyebrows and cocked heads. I groaned in annoyance.

"Maximum," said the man in front hesitantly. "How would we prevent the girl from using her powers if we were to wake her up?"

I was beyond glad to be on a different topic, but this question stumped me. "I don't know."

"Max," Nudge said suddenly. All of our heads swiveled to face her in unison. "The clone… Angimum. She was going to the Chambers, whatever they are, I think. And she took Fang with her. Should we go after her? Because, I mean, we don't have a choice, right?"

"Yeah," the Gasman cut in. "I want to get rid of this place. Especially after what they did to Angel. And what better way to do it than teaming up with an awesome rebel organization?" He sounded quite excited at the prospect.

Without waiting for my input, Iggy concluded, "That settles it! Whoever wants to see the Institute burn to the ground in a fiery explosion of doom, say 'I'!"

"I!" the three members of the flock yelled, along with most of the Erratics. And they were supposed to be the adults here.

"Wait a minute!" I shouted, putting up my hands. "First of all, I'm in charge! And second, Angimum has mind powers too, stronger than Angel's. We have to be careful about that, okay? Got it?"

"Don't worry, Max," Gazzy said, meeting my eyes with his big blue ones. "We'll be fine. Know why?"

Iggy didn't give me time to answer. "'Cause we've got _firepower_."

I sighed. "Torching the Institute's not the key to everything, you know."

He just grinned. "Come on. What do you say?"

I facepalmed. I was really going to regret this later. But I really needed to save Fang, anyway, and we just didn't have time to work out a good plan. We'd find that stupid clone, get Fang, and destroy this evil.

"Fine. If only to satisfy your pyro appetite, let's make the Institute _burn_."


	23. Murderous Glares to the Max

**Hope you all had a happy Halloween! I believe you will horribly despise Angel after this...**

Our assorted band had taken ten steps before we collectively realized that we didn't know where to go.

I was lugging Angel, not bothering to keep her head off the ground. The Erratics said that the sedative would wear off in thirty minutes, but we didn't have time to wait. Without her, though, we had no way to find the Chambers.

"What even _are_ the Chambers?" I asked grumpily, dragging Angel's unconscious body by her arms. "Are they some sort of special secret lab for the _important_ experiments?"

As always, oblivious to my sarcasm, one of the Erratics answered, "We don't think so. The Commander believes something different goes on in them… creating weapons, perhaps, or maybe a torture facility."

I rolled my eyes. Then a thought struck me. "Where is she, anyway? Is there some sort of commanding job she's doing right now, or what?"

"Why, of course!" the Erratic said. "She has many important activities to attend to."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Um…" he stammered, smoothing down his suit nervously. "That's confidential."

Iggy cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt," he said, "but we're getting nowhere. Unless you've got some brilliant plan for Chamber domination, we won't be able to find Fang, and we can't torch the Institute."

"Okay, okay," I snapped. "Wait a minute, didn't you hear Angimum walk away before?"

"I was a bit busy being _mind controlled_ ," he replied sarcastically. "So, not really."

" _What… Max?"_

Everyone jumped. The least-likely person in the corridor to speak had just woken up: Angel.

"I thought you said it would take half an hour," I whispered fiercely, dropping Angel to the floor like she was made of hot lava.

The Erratic in charge shrugged. "Different for different mutants, I guess," he said by way of explanation.

"Max…" Angel murmured again, trying to sit up. I felt a pang of regret, but squashed it angrily. I couldn't afford to care about her right now, after what she'd done.

"Guys, try… just try to shield your minds," I muttered, not taking my eyes off Angel. I knew how hopeless it was; if she decided to use her power, they were goners. I had no idea why I was immune, but it wouldn't matter in the long run if she could turn everyone against me.

Ange sat up woozily. Her blonde curls fell in a mess over her face. "Max," she said again. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Without delay, she promptly burst into tears.

Needless to say, we were stunned. I quickly moved from surprise to outrage. That little liar!

"Like hell," I snarled, hauling her to her feet with one hand. "Quit your faking, 'cause we know you don't regret anything. You can't just expect me to believe you – nobody can stop being on my bad side that fast."

Angel shook me off, giving me those wide, tear-filled eyes, but I wouldn't have any of it. If she wasn't going to help us, then fine, but there was no way I was going to accept an apology.

"That was harsh," Nudge whispered. I shot her a glare.

"She tried to kill us," I snapped. "Are you saying I should just forget that?"

"Max," Angel whispered, staring at the ground. "I just don't want to be alone. The Institute gave me an offer… I didn't think I could refuse it. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, right," I said. "You think wanting the apocalypse can be excused? And, no, there's more to the story. You're _jealous_ of the clone. Any chance of explaining why?"

She might have been faking, but even if she was, she definitely wanted to get on my good side. "I… I just want to be important. I want to be able to do anything. I want you to _pay attention_ to me," she admitted quietly.

I jerked back. Was she seriously pulling this? "I don't know what you're thinking, but people don't try to take over the world to get _noticed_."

Angel glared at me through her tears. "I want to be powerful," she said. "And I couldn't control you. Only you. That makes me _less_ than you."

I nodded sagely. "A _power_ complex." My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Angel…" Gazzy spoke up. I noticed for the first time that his eyes were filled with terrible pain.

Angel looked at him with something akin to shame. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you guys. I don't need to cause destruction to be happy."

I nodded, neither approving nor pleased. I'd work on her later, but the real problem was what to do right now.

I was about to issue some orders when she added under her breath, "Because destruction will come on its own."

I clenched my fists. _You're on thin ice, Angel._

She must have heard me, because she ducked her head shamefully.

"Okay!" I shouted, clapping my hands together. Not giving her time to argue, I said, "Now that Angel's awake and somewhat cooperating, she's going to lead us to whatever the Chambers are. Ready, everybody? Okay? Let's go."


	24. Invisibility to the Max

**Okay, I love this chapter. Just hilarious in my opinion. Enjoy!**

Fang watched Angimum impassively as she dragged him down the stairwell. She had tied him up while he was still under her influence and attached him to one of those things used to move boxes, a hand truck or something, like some evil villain would've done. Now she was pushing him down the stairs, each thump making his head hurt.

"C'mon," the clone muttered, struggling to keep a hold on the piece of equipment. Let go, and Fang would go tumbling. "Almost there."

Fang chose not to speak. A normal response from him.

A few seconds later, though it felt like hours, the door appeared at the end of the dimly lit stairwell. Angimum gratefully swung it open, heaving Fang's cart through.

It was a vast and open space. The ceiling was high and arched, but the lighting was bright. Fang tried to see where the lights were, but his head, tied to the equipment, couldn't move that far up.

At the far end of the room were filing cabinets. Not just one or two, though. Thousands upon thousands. The whole side of the room was crammed with thick metal cabinets, reaching all the way to the ceiling.

The left side of the room extended into dark oblivion. Wherever the light came from, it didn't stretch that far.

Angimum pushed Fang over to the right side. There was nothing of interest here, just a dozen computers or so.

Fang said at last, deciding to risk speaking, "What is this place?"

Angimum regarded him thoughtfully. Whatever she was thinking, it obviously did not involve his question, because she'd been looking at him that way before, as well.

"We're in somewhere that you don't need to know," she said finally.

Turning away from him, she booted up one of the computers.

Fang watched her. There had to be a way to escape, but the only thing was, she could always mind control him.

 _That's right, Fang. Why don't you try to escape? It would be fun to catch you again while we're waiting._

Ah. That was interesting. Waiting for what?

Angimum's mouth curved into a smile. She didn't turn from the computer, but she still answered, _You'll see._

Fine, then. Fang was going to play her game.

She smiled wider, hearing his thoughts. "Okay, Fang!" she said aloud, spinning around at last, computer forgotten. "Ready?"

Fang was. He nodded, knowing what he had to do.

Angimum grinned. Flicking her wrist, she shot out a small knife and slashed through Fang's bounds. "Go!"

Fang wasted no time. He slipped away, casting a glance at the shadows of the left side of the room. Time to contain his thoughts.

Angimum had covered her eyes, giggling and counting to ten, like a game of hide and seek. When she reached "diez" (for she was counting in Spanish), she opened up her mind and searched for Fang's thoughts.

She let out another giggle. Fang was still in the room! He hadn't tried to escape at all.

The smile slid off her face, though, when Fang's thoughts disappeared from her vision.

How had he done that?

The clone let out a snarl. "You think you're so clever, don't you?" she shouted, stalking forward. "Well, this room is only so big, and it won't take long to find you, even without reading your mind. Oh, this will be fun, truly!"

She checked under the computers first, already knowing that Fang's footsteps had led away. Next she checked the filing cabinets, making sure not to get to close. The leaders would be furious to find her fingerprints on them…

Only the shadows were left, assuming Fang hadn't taken advantage of Angimum's inability to find him and tried to escape.

Angimum smiled, showing pearly white canines. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

Darkness was no match for mutant bird kid night vision. Angimum's gaze swept the darkest corners of the room, to no avail.

Unless Fang could turn invisible, he had escaped up the stairwell.

With a cry of rage, Angimum stormed up the stairs, intent on winning the game.


	25. Descending into Darkness to the Max

I kept a close watch on Angel as we walked.

"Make a left," she said dully every one and a while. "Go down the stairs. Turn right."

I had one hand clamped tightly on her arm, making sure she heard my thoughts. If she decided to try anything, she was in big trouble.

Her sorrowful gaze flickered up to meet mine. I felt a twinge of guilt. No you don't, Angel.

"Max," she said quietly. "I know you don't trust me."

"No, really?" I hissed. "You want the freaking _apocalypse_ to happen. What's not trustworthy about that?"

Angel nodded glumly. "That's not untrue," she conceded. "But I'm helping you, Max."

I threw up my hands. "Are you going to tell me _why_?"

Angel ignored my sarcasm and studied our group thoughtfully. "Where's Iggy and Gazzy?" she asked after a moment. She still hadn't answered the question.

"How about you just pluck my response out of my mind?" I snapped. "You seem awfully good at that."

Angel cocked her head. "Explosives?"

I smirked. "How do you feel about the Institute, Angel?"

She didn't object, but as an expert on reading Fang I could see her jaw clench. "You're only making this harder for yourself, you know," she said.

I let the satisfaction of taunting her wash over me. Point, Max.

"Go down here," she said suddenly, turning to the rest of the group.

We had arrived at a stairwell that looked older than the rest of the pristine building. Angel typed in the keypad code, and one of the Erratics swung the door open. A stone staircase dove into the darkness, farther down than I could see.

"Max?" Nudge said nervously.

"I know," I said, not taking my eyes off the stairwell. I glanced at Angel. "This is the entrance to the Chambers?"

She nodded.

"Is anyone coming up the stairs?"

She paused to listen in her mind. "I don't think so."

I stared at her. "You don't think so?"

She frowned with concentration. "It's…fuzzy. Like something's blocking me."

That wasn't good. But how did I know Angel was telling the truth?

We'd just have to see, then. Letting out a sigh, I gritted my teeth and addressed my crew. "Okay. Erratics go first. Then Nudge, then Angel, then me. Got it?"

No one argued. We began to descend.

Let's hope Iggy and Gazzy get here soon.

The darkness enveloped us immediately. Soon I couldn't see Angel in front of me, which was worrying. The only light came from the occasional LED light mounted to the wall. I was almost to the point of shouting, "Roll call!" when I heard the footsteps.

They were loud and sudden, moving toward us from below. We stopped in our tracks.

"I thought you said you didn't hear anything!" I hissed furiously at Angel.

"I didn't!" she protested. "I still don't!"

Hm. That was interesting. I tucked that away for later.

But right now we had a problem. Someone screamed. One of the Erratics gasped, and I heard the unmistakable sounds of combat. Thump, thump, thump. They all collapsed.

I backed against the wall as far as I could, but the staircase was narrow. Angel and Nudge were beside me, holding their breath.

One of the LED lights a few steps away illuminated a figure. Her heavy panting drew closer.

"I know you're there, Fang. You can't hide. Shielding your thoughts was clever, but I can still find you."

I almost gave myself away from surprise. Fang had gotten away! And he had shielded his thoughts somehow, apparently.

"That was a nice try, bringing some backup like that. Only I'm a mutant, and they're not. You almost made it, Fang. Almost, but not quite."

Another thought struck me. Why couldn't she hear our thoughts? Nudge surely couldn't shield hers, and I wasn't especially trying.

No time to think about that. Without warning, I swung out a fist and decked the clone.

She didn't have time to cry out. I knocked her unconscious, leaving her with a bloody nose that shone by the light of the LED.

"Wow," Nudge whispered, speechless.

I stepped into the dim light so they could see me and took stock of the situation. The Erratics were knocked out, and Angimum hopefully wouldn't be eating solid foods any time soon. We still needed to find Fang and get rid of the Institute.

There was only one thing to do.

"Ready, guys?"

Angel and Nudge nodded solemnly, and together we stepped carefully over the unconscious Erratics, ready to face whatever the Chambers had in store while the seeds of a Plan B took root in my mind.

 **Why is Angel helping if she so obviously is still evil? And what is Max's Plan B? Review and tell me what you think!**


	26. Dynamite to the Max

**Double chapters this week! Yay!**

 **I am actually updating for a reason. Thank you for your concern, Flowersocks, but I have a good ten followers, and I don't need to get reviews for me to update. While I would like more reviews, I am not going to demand them. Also, you said you think I should change the description. What do you suggest?**

 **~Courage**

The Gasman couldn't contain his excitement to burn the Institute to the ground. It was going to be an explosion of epic proportions, and it was the Institute they were destroying as an added bonus.

"Where do you think they keep the weaponry?" he asked Iggy as they hurried down the corridor. The voice of Max was in his mind, practically screaming how illogical the plan was. Wait until we get out of the building, make sure it doesn't spread to the rest of the city, blah, blah, blah. Gazzy just wanted to destroy these creeps.

The ones who did something to Angel. Something that made her change. Because Gazzy refused to believe that she would join Them of her own free will.

"How would I know?" Iggy replied, keeping pace with the smaller flock member. "I don't have the blueprints to the building grafted into my memory."

Gazzy shook off his sadness and grinned at him. "That would be so cool. But where should we go to get stuff for bombs?"

Iggy spread his gray wings dramatically. It was funny, actually – no one really thought about Iggy's or Gazzy's wings. Everyone commented on Angel's angelic white ones, or Fang's midnight black ones, but never theirs.

"We need to think like a whitecoat," he said. He stopped walking. "Say I'm one of them. No, let's pretend I'm the _leader_. I want some nice big weapons storage by the exits of the Institute. So I call the contractor."

Gazzy nodded thoughtfully. "So we should go to one of the exits?"

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes. "Of course not."

He swept his wings to either side of himself theatrically. "The contractor says that that's a terrible idea. He asks me if I'm a complete idiot. And I tell him that I am, because I'm the head of the Institute."

Gazzy tapped his foot impatiently. "That's obvious. What do we do?"

"I'm getting there. The contractor tells me that I need to put little weapon lockers all throughout the building, hidden so only the security can open them, and not some vengeance-seeking bird kid. So I'm thinking that there's a hidden compartment in every hallway."

Gazzy cocked his head. "Smart. You sound like that guy on TV."

"Which one?" Iggy asked. "The Eleventh Doctor?"

Gazzy shook his head. "No, the other show. The one with all those supernatural monsters. I forget what it's called."

"Oh. I hate that guy," Iggy complained.

"Whatever," said Gazzy. "We're getting off topic. So where are these supposed weapon lockers?"

Iggy folded his wings. "You're in luck, because I might be able to find them."

Hoping his theory was correct, Gazzy led him over to the wall. Iggy ran a hand over the sterilized white surface.

"Nothing," he said.

He moved on to the second portion of wall. Gazzy's stomach was knotted with tension.

"I think there's something here," Iggy said after a moment of concentration. "It's…"

"Yeah?" Gazzy whispered.

"It's… a _wall_." Iggy burst out laughing. Gazzy wished he could see the glare he was giving him.

"No, but really," Iggy said once his laughter had died down. "Check this out."

He hooked his fingernails into a minuscule crevice in the wall. It was impossible to see, but when Iggy gave it a tug, it swung outward.

"Dude," said Iggy, "what's in it?"

Gazzy stared at the interior of the compartment. It was barely three feet deep, but it contained two hefty-looking guns and was crowded with all sorts of ammo.

"Well?" Iggy asked with a touch of irritation.

"There're twenty AK-47s, an assault rifle, and a dozen barrels of gunpowder," Gazzy said.

Iggy was practically vibrating with excitement. "Seriously?"

"No," Gazzy said cheerfully. "But there's enough ammo to last us all the way through Christmas."

Iggy perked up. "Is that an option?"

"We'll have to ask Max," the Gasman replied, already hunting through stacks of ammunition. A bit of rope – they didn't have enough material for an electric time bomb – and some combustible ingredients that would explode big and fast would do perfectly well.

Iggy ran a hand over one of the guns. "Is there enough stuff to make explosives?"

Gazzy peered under a pile of unloaded pistols. "Oh, yeah. There's enough stuff to make a guided missile."

Iggy grinned. "Excellent. Do we have a plan?"

Gazzy made a discovery inside an unlabeled crate. _Jackpot_.

"Oh, yeah!" he said, pumping a fist in the air. "We have a plan all right."


	27. Exasperation to the Max

Angel knew her army was in shambles. The Institute was finished. Angimum was out cold. And the plan wasn't working.

The only thing she could do was join Max. There was no point in disguising her intentions, since Max would never trust her anyway. But she didn't have to fight.

There was another option, though. A way for her to have her perfect society.

Angel smiled grimly in the dim light, an expression beyond her years. She would have liked for Max to have joined her.

Oh, well.

* * *

I led Angel and Nudge to the door at the end of the stairwell.

Surprisingly, it was unlocked. Angimum must have been in a rush.

"Max?" Nudge asked in a high-pitched voice. "Where are we? Do you think Fang's in there?"

I didn't answer, pushing open the door. There was no telling who could be behind the door, since we couldn't trust Angel with anything.

We peered into the crack of the door. I had to squint in the bright light.

"That's a lot of filing cabinets," Nudge whispered in awe.

She was right. The whole back wall was crammed with filing cabinets.

I didn't see any whitecoats. Casting a glance at Angel, who seemed unusually calm, I cautiously entered the room.

It was admittedly huge, like a sort of brightly-lit dungeon, if dungeons had computers and filing cabinets. The other side of the room extended into darkness, which seemed more appropriate.

"Looks like we're in the Chambers," I said quietly. I was wound tighter than a ball of string, expecting some Eraser to jump out of the darkness at me.

 _Max_ , Angel said in my mind. I flinched at hearing her. _Fang isn't projecting his thoughts. I can't hear them if he's actually here._

I blinked, rounding on her. "What do you mean, 'not projecting his thoughts'?" Was he, like, not thinking or something? How did that make _any_ sense? I felt like strangling Angel. Did she just _forget_ to share this information? Her words, spoken or otherwise, weren't worth the gum on the bottom of my shoe.

Angel took a step back, sensing the rest of my rant. "Not many people can do it," she said in a small voice. "Shield their thoughts, I mean. But Fang's _Fang_. He's been able to do it for a while."

I curled my hands into fists. "Thanks _so much_ for telling me!" I snapped.

"Um, okay…" said Nudge, who hadn't heard half our conversation. "Is Fang here?"

Something moved in the corner of my eye, coming out of the shadows.

"Yo," Fang said.

Nudge squeaked with surprise and ran over to him, practically hopping up and down. "Fang!" she cried. "Max knocked out that clone! And Gazzy and Iggy are going to blow apart the Institute!"

Fang nodded occasionally in response to her, and then glanced at me and Angel. He raised an eyebrow fractionally. I caught the meaning.

" _She's with us for now,_ " I mouthed.

He lifted his chin to show he understood. Nudge continued to chatter until I cleared my throat loudly.

"Okay, guys," I said, clapping my hands together in a leaderly fashion. "How about we get out of here? Find Gaz and Ig and do a U and A?"

Angel sorrowfully met my eyes and I stopped breathing. Oh, no.

"I'm not leaving with you, Max."

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes, you are."

She shook her head. "I'm not."

I clenched my teeth. "You are, otherwise I will drag you right out of this building, so help me."

Angel sighed patiently. "I really didn't want it to come to this," she said, and I flared out my wings, knowing what was going to happen, if not the specifics.

She raised her arms, looking at me pleadingly. I shook my head at her.

My blood froze. The sound of many footsteps grew, coming down the stairs.

"Sorry, Max," Angel said, just as the door burst open.

 **Because we all knew it would happen. The only question is what comes next.**

 **Thank you for reading, and peace, love, review! Happy Thanksgiving!**


	28. The Borg to the Max

There was only one logical thing I could do: tackle Angel.

I threw all of my weight into a body slam, knocking her to the concrete floor. Before she could cry out, I had her pinned to the ground.

"Let the little girl up," an uncertain voice said.

I raised my gaze. Standing in the doorway were the Erratics and Angimum, all under Angel's power. Angimum's nose was covered in dried blood, I noticed with satisfaction.

"Max –" Angel choked out, struggling under my arms.

I made no move to let her go. Not making the mistake of trusting her again.

"Just – Max – Please!" she coughed, wriggling.

"What are you up to?" I snarled. "Planning a party? Sorry, because we've got plans."

 _Max_ , Angel pleaded in my mind. _At least let me breathe_.

The only problem was, as long as she was conscious she could use her powers. She knew it, I knew it, and there was no other way to stop her. I braced myself, knowing that I could never be prepared to do what needed to be done.

"Let her up, Max," Nudge begged from behind me, "please."

I ignored her, but then I heard Fang's voice.

"Max. I know what you're thinking. Don't."

I hesitated. Angel squirmed out from under my arms, but I shot out a hand and held her tight.

"Max," Fang said again. I could feel his eyes on my back.

"No, Fang," I said, refusing to look at him. "You're under her influence. Now quit it."

Angel smirked at me. "You're smart, Max," she said. "I'll miss you, you know."

I clenched my jaw, meeting her gaze. Her eyes widened.

"Don't –" she started, but I didn't let her finish.

In one move, I conked her on the head, praying that there wouldn't be any lasting damage. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and I set her down carefully. Angel, my baby, was out of the game.

Forgive me, Angel.

I looked behind me. Angimum was obviously still keeping up the orders, because the Erratics stayed in formation, blocking the exit.

"I see Fang's still here," she said, baring her teeth. "How _delightful_."

I didn't like the way she said that. The two members of my flock stood stock still, staring at her. Fang glanced at me, and I finally met his gaze.

"Protect your mind," he murmured softly, closing his eyes. I found it creepy that he could just shut off his thoughts. But Angel had been right earlier when she said that Fang was _Fang_. It just seemed right.

Nudge looked terrified. She glanced from me to him to the clone and back to me. "Is Angel _dead_?" she finally said in a horrified whisper.

"I hope not," I muttered, trying to keep the worry out of my voice, "otherwise I won't get to kick her feathered behind later. Now be quiet. We'll get out of this."

Angimum grinned, showing pearly white teeth. "I'm glad you think so, Maxie. How would you like to die?"

I stepped in front of Nudge, who was trying to keep her mouth shut, and resisted a glance at Fang. "Hmm," I said. "How to die? You mean, either get trampled to death by your sad little army of hypnotized people, or get killed in a fight between myself and a day-old experiment who probably spent her first hour alive learning how to talk like a cartoon character?"

The clone blinked, having trouble processing my charming personality. Then she narrowed her eyes.

"What are you implying?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm not implying anything," I answered innocently. "I'm saying it straight to your face."

Angimum shrieked at me, flaring out her wings. They were pale tan, a mix between mine and Angel's. " _Excuse_ me?" she snapped. "Don't _mock_ me! I will enjoy your destruction!"

"See, right there," I said conversationally. "' _I will enjoy your destruction_.' I'm sure I heard that on TV somewhere."

She came at me then, spitting with rage, but I easily sidestepped her. Taking advantage of the high vaulted ceiling, I snapped open my own wings and took to the air.

Angimum flew after me. I was counting on her rage to distract her, and I wasn't disappointed. Her strikes were powerful but had no accuracy, and her slams were too wide.

"Max!" Nudge shouted at me from the ground.

I swung my head around just in time to duck a lucky punch from Angimum. She snarled at me, pumping her fists in a flurry, but I grabbed her in midair and shoved, causing her to somersault in the air.

"Nudge!" I shouted, flapping hard. "Get rid of the Erratics!"

Nudge immediately did as she was told, carefully knocking out each mind controlled guard. Now we had a free exit, as long as I could get rid of the clone.

Angimum tackled me then, making us both spiral into the wall of filing cabinets. She got in my face, wild brown curls flying around her head.

"How do you want to die, Max?" she asked me again, kicking me against the wall. "Well? How about I make the choice for you?"

Uh-oh. I tried to resist, but as the Borg on Star Trek always said, resistance is futile. Angimum's voice was in my head, and I was under her influence.

 _I could kill you,_ she said, _but_ you _want to do the honor. Don't you, Max?_

I shook my head forcefully, thinking the whole time, _no, no, no, no_.

But her words wormed into my head, and I found myself unable to keep myself aloft. I collapsed on top of the tallest filing cabinet, wondering if it would be so horrible to listen to her words.

Then I remembered what Fang had said. _Protect your mind_. He was down below, helping Nudge dispatch the Erratics and carrying the unconscious Angel over his shoulder.

I thought, then, that maybe it wasn't _trying_ that Fang had meant. Maybe it was just simply _not thinking_.

I didn't resist Angimum. I didn't worry about the others. I didn't think about her, or think about me.

I stopped thinking.

It's harder than you might think. I was doing my very best to not feel emotion at all. Which was pretty hard, knowing me. Jeb always said that I was too soft.

But I screwed my eyes shut and let go of my mind.

I don't know how long I stayed there. Whenever I accidentally thought something, like _what time is it_ , or _am I dead yet_ , Angimum's poisonous words filled my head, and I had to stop again.

The clone was trying various things, though. She kicked me a few times. I probably looked odd, suddenly curled up in the fetal position, but she was impatient. She probably was confused that she couldn't read my thoughts. Eventually she simply stopped trying, and she pushed me off the filing cabinets.

I registered the sudden wind and loss of ground below me, and reattached myself to my mind, barely managing to land safely. I took a shaky breath and faced the clone again.

She was perched on top of the filing cabinet, looking down at me like a cat about to pounce. We both knew that I couldn't win, not when she had power over me.

"Well?" I snapped, folding my arms. "Are you going to tell me how I'm going to die?"

The clone smiled, her eyes sparkling with dark amusement.

And that, folks, was when the ceiling collapsed.


	29. Beytrayal to the Max

Iggy followed the Gasman through the air ducts, laden with weaponry.

Vent-travel had been Gazzy's idea; it would give them a direct route to where they needed to go, since the weapons locker had come with maps of the building, and it would keep them out of sight from any straggling whitecoats.

Gazzy was in front, his cargo clanging in the echoing ducts. All of the reverberating, amplified sounds were making Iggy dizzy.

"You still have the stuff?" he asked, although it was a stupid question.

Iggy could hear the smile behind Gazzy's words. "Definitely."

"Good." _Sayonara_ , Institute. They wouldn't be experimenting on innocent beings for a while.

Gazzy stopped suddenly, making Iggy bump into him. There was a rustling of paper as he consulted the map.

"The vents should turn here… but why aren't they?" he said. "They just keep going into some empty place marked ' _Chambers_.' Do you think that means the bathroom?"

Iggy swallowed his irritation. "Yeah, why not? I mean, I can see why they would be vague on the map about _that_."

The Gasman didn't answer. He hesitated.

"What if this is where Max and the others are?"

Iggy opened his mouth, about to deliver a derisive comment, when all of a sudden, a deathly loud groan echoed ominously around them, the sound intensified by the acoustics.

"What was that?" Gazzy whispered fearfully.

Iggy didn't have time to answer, because at that moment the ventilation ducts gave way, sending him and the Gasman plummeting down, down, down.

* * *

I was left gawping as my two absent flock members, covered in dust and bulky equipment, crashed right on top of the clone. Nudge screamed, running to my side along with Fang.

Iggy groaned. "Gaz?"

"Here," Gazzy moaned. "Wish I wasn't."

I shook myself out of my shock. Bending down, I checked them for injuries and helped them up. Once they were able to stand on their own, I said oh-so calmly, "What were you _thinking_?"

Iggy coughed. "Vent systems, duh. Only, our plan didn't count on the weapons weighing as much as a freaking _tank_."

I eyed them suspiciously. "You can't just crawl through air ducts. This isn't Disney."

He shrugged. "Whatever."

I waved the topic away, resolving to instruct them about reality later. If there was a later. "At least you have weapons."

Gazzy brightened. "Guess what we found –"

"Um," interrupted Nudge nervously. "What about Angimum? Is she dead?"

Would that be such a bad thing? I didn't say that aloud, though. Fang transferred Angel to me, crouching down to inspect the clone. After a moment, he pronounced, "She's not dead."

Nudge blew out a nervous sigh of what was possibly relief. I frowned.

"What should we do with her?"

Fang glanced at the pile of unconscious (again) Erratics that he and Nudge had knocked out earlier. "Did they say they needed her?" he asked.

Huh. The Commander of the Erratics, Victoria Meyer, had mentioned it, now that I thought about it. I wasn't sure about handing over the clone to her, though.

On the other hand, she also asked about Angel. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"All right," I decided finally. "We'll deliver her to them. As soon as we get all these Erratics to safety, we can blow this pop stand. Literally."

"I'm glad to hear it, Max," a voice said from behind us.

I whirled around, accidentally stepping on Angimum's hand.

Victoria Meyer herself stood in the doorway, looking very regal in her red dress. When I caught sight of the bearded man behind her, my heart plummeted.

Victoria smiled without an ounce of warmth.

"Only, I'm afraid you won't be leaving."

 **Who saw that coming? XD**

 **I'm serious. How will Max and the gang get out of this one? What tricks do they have up their sleeves? And what are the Commander of the Erratic's true motives? Let me know your thoughts.**


	30. Saw That Coming to the Max

**Thirtieth chapter, everyone! Celebrate, bring out the cake, and PAR-TAY! And as you know, no party is complete without a good plot twist! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the thirtieth chapter of... whatever this story is called (no, seriously, I forget).**

"Is today 'Backstabbing Evil Psychos' Day?" I quipped lightly while analyzing the situation. "Because I think you might have the date wrong; that might be tomorrow instead."

The Commander of the Erratics wasn't fazed. "The Institute had the wrong idea," she said calmly. "Mindless experiments didn't advance the world of science and technology. Creating mutant creatures only let people know what they themselves were capable of.

"But there are better uses for these technologies. Imagine the power one would have with a genetically-engineered army at their fingertips. This is what the Institute for Higher Living should have focused on. This is the true goal of the Erratics."

She gave a short laugh. "Though they don't know it, of course."

I raised an eyebrow. "Brainwashing? That's very Angel of you."

She shook her head, letting her perfectly-styled hair fall gracefully over her shoulders. "I have simply withheld the truth from those unfortunate lemmings," she said. "Aside from the ones in this room, of course. They did what they were told, because it was for 'the purpose of the Erratics.'"

My heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst as the adrenaline seeped into my veins. "If your big plan is to make an army, then why do you need us?" I asked, forcing myself to sound composed.

The corners of Victoria Meyer's mouth turned up slightly. "My army must start with you, of course," she said.

That threw me. "Why?"

She was really smiling now. "You are meant to save the world. I'm told you would make a valuable asset to any army I create."

I felt like strangling Jeb right then and there, but that was an argument for another time. "Well, too bad, because I would never join you."

Victoria gave me a smug look, and all of a sudden I realized her plan.

"Oh," I said, instinctively glancing down at Angel in my arms. Mind control. _That_ was why she wanted Angel and Angimum.

Victoria nodded. "I'm glad you understand. If you would come with us without argument, we won't be forced to take _extreme measures_."

I clenched my jaw. "Hmm, let me see," I said sarcastically, "Give up my free will in order to not die right away, or escape and live? Gee, what a hard decision…"

Victoria Meyer's expression hardened. With a nod, she signaled for the Institute leader, the man with the snow-white beard, behind her to come forward.

"Max," Gazzy whispered. I glanced at his anxious face, and right away I knew what he was thinking.

"Hit the deck!" I shouted, covering Angel as best as I could with my arms, about to drop and roll to safety.

The flock was right behind me. The bearded man came forward, but Gazzy tossed something into the air, something hulking and red…

"We're not going to survive this close!" Iggy shouted, pressing against the wall.

"Up and away, then!" I yelled back, unfurling my wings.

But I knew we would only have seconds. Casting a desperate glance around me, I noticed the open door to the stairwell. "Come on!"

"Wait, Max!" Nudge shouted, sounding small and scared. "Angimum!"

I glanced at the clone's crumpled form a few paces away. It would be so much simpler to leave her, but the worried look on Nudge's face forced me to make one of those split-second decisions that I'm so well known for.

"Fang, get her!" I yelled, making a dash for the exit, hoping the flock was behind me.

"You are only postponing your service to me, Max," Victoria Meyer called as we dashed up the stairs.

I spared a moment to glance back. She and the bearded man watched coolly from the center of the Chambers.

"Then I'll just keep doing that," I snarled, spreading my wings and taking flight up the spiral stairs, weighed down by Angel in my arms, just as Gazzy's pack of dynamite exploded.


	31. Ba-Boom to the Max

**Thanks, Flowersocks, for your support. (And I tried to say the tounge-twister - I failed.)**

 **Warning, I don't know what dynamite is like, so I had a hard time with this chapter. Thank you!**

We were thrown forward by the explosion, blasted up the stairwell. My head hit the underside of the stairs above me, and I felt dizzy for a moment.

The walls of the stairwell were crumbling, and I knew we had maybe seconds before the whole Chambers collapsed. And yet, I was still a bit unnerved by Victoria and the man. Why hadn't they tried to stop us?

"Max!" Nudge shrieked as the high ceiling of the stairwell began to fall in. She swerved in the air, barely avoiding being hit by the debris.

"Keep going!" I shouted back, not sparing a glance at them. I flew another rotation of the spiral steps, and suddenly the bright light of an open door seared my retinas. Doorway!

I flew through the doorway as fast as I could, not stopping. We could make it out of here.

Angel stirred in my arms. Her blond curls were coated with grey dust and plaster from the explosion. "Max?"

I patted her head absentmindedly, still focused on soaring down the corridor. There isn't a verb to describe how fast I was flying. I wasn't using my super-speed, true (we were inside a building), but I was stretching the limits of normal bird kid activity.

"Guys!" Gazzy shouted from behind, sounding very alarmed. "The whole building's going to collapse!"

I turned my head far enough to glance at him and went back to watching where I was going. The dynamite was destructive, but I doubted a single pack would destroy a large, highly-functioning building. "What do you mean?"

He sounded nervous. "We didn't just use one pack, although it would have been enough. There are more sticks of it that we placed all over, just to get rid of this place. We rigged it so that once the first one goes off, the other will too."

I cursed. "Great. Fabulous. Then we better hurry!"

I flew down hallway after hallway, but it soon became apparent that we were hopelessly lost. Tremors shook the building, and the walls were crumbling left and right.

"Any idea where to go?" I shouted at the flock, landing with my wings spread and ready. They circled around me, tense and afraid. We probably had seconds, maybe less.

Fang studied me with his dark gaze. "There's a sunroof."

I blinked. "Huh?"

Fang gestured above us with his shoulder, since he was still carrying the unconscious form of Angimum. "A sunroof," he said. "On the ceiling."

I glanced up, feeling like a moron. Sure enough, the sky was visible through a thick glass pane.

All I could think to say was "Oh."

"Max?" Nudge squeaked. "Shouldn't we go?"

I snapped myself out of it. "Yeah. Let's go."

Iggy grinned. "Let's blow this pop stand! Get it? We have dynamite?"

Gazzy cackled and high-fived him. Iggy never missed.

I swallowed my irritation. "Come on."

I took to the air, flapping to reach the sunroof. The rest of the flock followed.

"Take Angel," I said to Iggy. "Don't drop her."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he muttered, letting me transfer her to him. "It's not like she tried to kill us, right?"

Ignoring him, I looked up at the window on the ceiling and curled my hands into fists. Then I punched the glass as hard as I could.

Which would have been fine, except that the rest of the dynamite detonated right then.

We were all thrown upward as the ceiling exploded, vaporizing the glass completely. Nudge screamed, but she wasn't the only one. The blast scorched my face and wings and dug gouges into my sides. In a confusing whirl of light and sound, when my eardrums felt as though they had ruptured, I began to fall down, wind whipping my clothes, until I hit the ground hard.

Stars danced in front of my eyes. I might have blacked out for a bit. It took me a moment to realize I was sitting in a pile of rubble.

My head hurt like crazy, but it was nothing compared to my skin. I felt like I was on fire.

Finally, I managed to sort out my thoughts. First thing was first. I had to make sure the flock was okay, and then we had to leave the scene. The cops would show up soon.

I sat up with difficulty, taking in my surroundings. For a moment I didn't recognize them.

The Institute was leveled flat, except for the rubble I was sitting on, which stretched all the way onto the New York City street. Cars were stranded all over the place. This was not good.

I coughed, clearing my lungs. Casting my gaze across the wreckage, I searched for my flock with a sinking heart.

"Nudge?" I croaked. "Gaz? Ig?"

I pulled myself off the ground shakily, forcing myself to stand. "Fang?"

Please. Not Fang. I couldn't lose Fang.

"Guys?" I shouted, louder now, but only the sounds of sirens greeted me in the distance.

Then I heard a cough.

I scrambled to the pile of debris it came from, my heart pounding. Please, please, please, let the flock be okay.

The cough turned into a hack. I tossed crumbled plaster aside, searching for the victim.

The pile shifted, and suddenly the Gasman popped out of it, covered in scratches and burns. Despite this, he was grinning.

He coughed again. "That. Was. Awesome!" he shouted, pumping a fist in the air.

Something stirred underneath him, and Iggy came out from below, looking just as bruised.

He groaned. "If only it didn't hurt so much."

I was appalled to feel hot tears at the corners of my vision. Quelling the emotion, I called out again, "Angel! Fang! Nudge!"

Iggy took in my appearance while shaking the loose plaster from his clothing. "You look like death," he noted.

I shot him a glare. "Thanks." Louder, I yelled, "Angel? Nudge?"

Iggy and Gazzy sifted through the rubble with me. We combed through every pile. After three fourths of them, there was nothing.

Last pile. I held my breath.

I moved aside the first piece of crumbled wall. Underneath was a dust-covered elbow.

"Guys," I said tensely, and they came over. Together we removed the wreckage, revealing a very battered Nudge. I sucked in a breath.

"Nudge!" I shouted. "Wake up!"

"Come on," Iggy muttered. Suddenly, he brightened. "We've got breakfast!"

No response. "That only works in the movies," I snapped.

"Wait, I've got it," Gazzy said, snapping his fingers. "Nudge, we got a new J-14 magazine in the mail, with full details on Katelyn and Kim's relationship!"

Nudge immediately flung herself upright so fast that I jumped back. "Kim's with Kanye, not Kate!" she murmured, eyes blinking open.

Gazzy and Iggy high-fived, giggling, while I hugged Nudge carefully. She let out a moan, looking in confusion around her.

"Max? What's happening?" she asked. "Why am I so sore? What happened to you?"

I tried to smile, but with my burnt face, it was probably not reassuring. "I'm fine. The Institute exploded."

"Where are Fang and Angel?" she asked anxiously, glancing around.

All at once the sorrow crushed me, making it hard to breathe. "Gone," I said. "We searched through all the wreckage."

Nudge, looking stricken, opened her mouth to say something when a voice said, "Max. I'm here."

I spun around, unable to contain the tears this time. They stung my cheeks where they were cut.

"Fang!" Nudge cried joyfully, trying to stand but finding it too wobbly. "You're okay!"

He was at the very end of the explosion zone, covered in scratches just like the rest of us, crouching over something. I stumbled over to him.

He nodded. "We landed on the roof of the next building. Took a while to get down here."

Something he said struck me. "We?"

He moved aside so I could see. The clone was spread on the rubble, probably the worst off out of all of us.

"She didn't make it," he said.

Angimum was dead.


	32. A Whole Lotta Cheese to the Max

**Star Wars is awesome, and this was a fun chapter, just so you know! Enjoy!**

Angimum's face was covered in dirt, blood, and scratches. One wing was twisted the wrong way, and her torso was buried in rubble, so I couldn't even see the extend of her damage.

It wasn't too hard to believe Fang when he said she was dead.

"The cops are coming, guys," Iggy informed us.

I just looked at Angimum, trying to get my brain to keep working. In all honesty, this was probably for the best. The clone had been evil and trying to kill us, plus I didn't like the way she looked at Fang. But her death created a new problem.

Raising my eyes to meet Fang's dark ones, I asked, "What do we do with the body?"

He shrugged. "You're the leader. Lead."

This brought me back to a conversation the flock had had months ago, back in our old home. I had gone on a power tirade because no one would clean their rooms, and it ended with a civil war where the others went on strike and built a fort in the living room. Eventually I had gained control again, and the world realigned on its axis.

The memory brought a smile to my face. Then I realized we had only seconds before the NYPD came, and there was already a terrified crowd of onlookers, so I put my nostalgia on pause for the moment.

"We have to get her out of the city," I decided. "This is New York. The police will eventually find out if we dump her in a trash bin behind a sushi restaurant."

Nudge shuddered, and Iggy whistled. "Nice, Max," he said.

"Fang, Iggy, you guys… carry the body." I was revolted, but it was nothing to the way the boys looked at me. "Gazzy, Nudge, fly with them. I have something to do."

Gazzy tilted his pale, scratched face up to look at me. "Max?" he whispered. "We still haven't found Angel."

"I know," I said softly. "That's what I'll be doing, finding her."

Angel had not come out of the rubble. I couldn't let the others worry about her, so it would be my job to find her.

"She can't be in the wreckage," I said, gulping down my fears. "We looked through almost all of it. It would make sense if she fled." _She has to be alive._

The sirens were getting closer. The crowd was steadily growing in size.

"Iggy," Fang said at last. "Come on."

To my relief, he didn't question me. The two of them wordlessly lifted up Angimum's lifeless body and waded through the debris, into a back alley where they could take off more or less unseen.

Gazzy followed silently. As he passed me, he whispered, "Please. Find her." His voice broke, and I embraced him tightly before he left.

Nudge was crying. I moved to give her a hug as well, but she shook her head.

"What Angel did wasn't cool. She and Angimum made some really bad decisions, and if they hadn't been stopped, we would have died." She wiped away the tears and snot from her face, leaving streaks of blood. "But neither of them deserved to die, Max."

She finally let me hug her, and I rocked her back and forth like when we were young and one of us got hurt in training with Jeb. I patted her hair, and she left wet stains on my already-decimated jacket. We'd need a shopping trip after this.

"Angel isn't dead, Nudge," I said reassuringly, to both her and myself. I repeated this mantra in my head over and over again. "I'll find her, kick her butt, and then maybe we'll all go blow up the School next, okay?"

She nodded miserably, and I patted her again. The white police cars were already in view.

"Go," I said, and she gave me one more hug and left.

I made myself disappear into the wreckage that had strayed into the neighboring building. The NYPD officers were checking out the area with bewildered expressions, speaking into walkie-talkies. Someone had called the fire department, too.

It wouldn't be long before they found remnants of the dynamite. Then a search would be called for, and an entire investigation would go underway. It was best if we left the city.

But first I had to find Angel.

I scaled the building. It wasn't too hard since I was genetically enhanced, and the explosion had gouged footholds into the side.

From the top, I could see all the damage. It looked like a meteor had struck the Institute. There was a ginormous crater filled with bits of glass, twisted metal, and crumbling plaster that looked way too small from up here.

But even with my super-duper bird kid vision, I couldn't see any trace of Angel.

I was starting to think that my "plan" was simply me being in denial.

No matter what I wanted to believe, it couldn't change the fact that Angel wasn't here and had probably died. She had actually been _unconscious_ when the building had exploded, anyway. The chances were slim, but Angel…

Suddenly the weight of everything crushed me. I was appalled to feel tears sliding down my cheeks.

She might have been devious and evil and probably about to murder me if I gave her the chance, but she was only six years old. Seven, maybe. But it didn't change the fact that she was still part of our flock, and, at least to me, the flock was family.

Angel, my baby…

I couldn't stop looking for her.

My despair hardened into resolve, and I stood up, almost falling off the roof of the building. I still needed to recover her, dead or alive. _Don't think like that._

I forced myself to take a fresh look at the scene. She wasn't in the rubble; we knew that. I doubted she'd been thrown into an alley; Iggy had been carrying her, and they'd landed on the opposite end of the crater.

Her light weight would mean she'd have gone farther than them, though, right? I didn't know a thing about science, which was ironic, but there wasn't time to figure it out.

If I ruled out all those theories (including Angel having been pulverized, because I refused), then a very likely option was that she'd awoken first, gotten up, and left.

Was that unlikely? Yes. Was it just me being in denial? Probably.

But if she'd somehow gotten away, where was she now?

I tried to puzzle through it. And I was honestly not prepared for what happened.

"…Max?"

I spun around, hoping against hope, knowing my luck wasn't that _existent_. But Angel was really there, not looking like I'd pictured her – a character from _Titanic –_ at all.

Her hair was grayer than Jeb's, covered in dust and dirt, and her wings were out and missing feathers. Her skin was red and gray with powder and the occasional slash of dried blood. Her eyes were dim, and her expression was hesitant.

I squashed the impulse to run slow-motion over to her and embrace her like a character in a Disney movie.

Instead I ran fast-motion over to her and checked her for serious injuries.

"Angel! Are you _okay_?" I sob-choke-asked. I held her tightly, knowing that now that this was over, I would have to yell at her soon. "What happened?"

Angel's eyes widened. "Max?" she cried. Her voice was rough, but not broken. "I… the explosion… I woke up on what I guess was the sidewalk."

I gave up on assessing her wounds and hugged her. Like a Disney character, I know.

I remembered how Gaz and Ig had crawled through air ducts and how annoyed I'd been, but now I realized that I'd have to include myself on the crazy train.

"You're okay?" I asked her again. " _Are_ you?"

"Yes," she responded, meeting my gaze. Her eyes were much clearer now. "I am, Max. I woke up… in pain… and I was scared, so I ran. Then I hid in an alleyway…"

I hugged her tighter, mindful of her injuries as well as my own. "It's all right, Ange. The others are safe. We need to go."

I decided not to tell her about Angimum. We'd cross that bridge when we got there.

"Max," she said softly. "I want to come with you."

I felt a flash of irritation. "Of course you're coming."

She gulped, looking down. "I thought because of what I did…"

I clenched my jaw. We were taking her with us no matter what, even though there was heavy punishment in her future.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. When she found out Angimum was dead, I thought, she would be even sorrier.

Her gaze flicked up. "Angimum's dead?"

Gah, mind readers. At my glare, she added hastily, "That's horrible. But now she – she won't be able to come after us."

I nodded with satisfaction. "That's right. And I'm going to keep an eye on you."

She tried to smile. "I won't try to hurt you again, Max."

"Ready to meet up with the others?"

She nodded. "Yes."

I helped her into the air. She was having trouble, but she would make it.

"Oh, no," I groaned as we soared high above the city.

"What?" she asked worriedly.

I pointed to the sunset rising over us. "We're flying off into the sunset like stupid Disney characters!"

We were going to meet up with the flock in the cheesiest way possible. Oh, well.


	33. Evil to the Max

Angel truly was giving up. For now, at least.

She'd never wanted to hurt the flock, that much was true. Max was a different story, though.

Max was an obstacle. For Angel to obtain a society where everyone could be special and freely unique, Max had to leave the picture.

But it didn't look like that was going to happen. The death of Angimum presented a whole slew of problems for Angel.

Angel no longer had a faithful partner that shared half her DNA. She no longer had someone to help her with her plans, and most importantly, she no longer had an ally who could control Max.

Angel tried to temper her resentment. Out of all the things Angel could do, controlling Max wasn't one of them.

And for Angimum, it was. The clone had some of Max's DNA, after all.

But the worst part of it all was what Jeb had said the last time Angel had seen him:

 _"You will never be able to influence her in that way. She was created for a purpose, to save the world, and she is too powerful for you to control."_

Angel had silently fumed over it. It hadn't offended her at first, but soon his words had wormed into her head, and she became almost as bitter as that fool Ari.

Max was _special_. Max was _too powerful_ for a poor six year old.

 _Stop it_ , Angel commanded herself. She was on Max's side now. Her allies were gone or missing, and she had no weapons against Max. It was best to play along.

And no matter what Jeb or Anne or the Director said, she knew that she was the most powerful mutant alive.

Because now Angimum was dead.


	34. Max to the Max

"Hey! Guys!" I shouted, waving my arms in the air.

My wing was a little sore from being hit with a laser at the beginning of this whole mess, but it was a relief to stretch my muscles in the open air. For the first time in I didn't know how long, I felt absolutely free.

The flock was far away, although we were steadily getting closer to them. Angel barely had the strength to carry herself, but I was going to make her fly on her own. She had to learn her lesson.

Nudge was the first to spot us. "Max!" she cried, changing direction and soaring over to me. She tackled me in a hug, causing us to fall about twenty feet before letting me go.

Nudge's enthusiasm did not stretch to Angel. She regarded her apprehensively, staying a few yards away from her. Angel looked at her sadly and regretfully, but I wasn't sure what was faked.

"Nudge," I started slowly, "Angel's going to come with us. Okay?"

Nudge seemed uneasy, but she said, "…Okay, Max." She fell into an unusual silence.

"Angel's staying with us?" Iggy asked, coming up behind Nudge. "Are you insane?"

"I'm reasonably sure," I replied patiently. "But what else are we supposed to do?"

Iggy muttered something about throwing her off a bridge, but Angel looked so sorry that he stopped. Or maybe she was influencing him. You'd never know.

And that was the problem. Angel could stage an uprising and force the others to join her.

Angel's sorrowful gaze met my own. _I promise that I won't, Max._

 _I don't believe you_ , I shot back fiercely. She managed to look even gloomier.

She cleared her throat aloud. "I only want a world where we can be free," she said to all of us. "I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose. I'm sorry."

Gazzy flew closer to her, past Iggy and Nudge. There were streaks of tears in the dirt on his cheeks.

"I don't get it, Angel," he said. "Why can't you be happy with what you have? Don't you want us?"

Angel gritted her teeth, and I could tell she was weighing her options. "I only wanted the chance to be myself around everyone," she whispered. "Of course I want you. I need you all."

We all knew what was unspoken; Angel needed us, but she wanted more.

Gazzy looked into her eyes, and I could see the anguish in his face when he realized he didn't know his sister anymore. "All right," he said, turning around in the air.

We flew on, and I watched Angel like a hawk (pardon the pun). She really did look sorry, even if she didn't regret the decisions she made.

"Please," she said after a moment, sounding so much older than she was. "I mean it. I apologize. Angimum was terrible, and I'm glad I won't be going back there. I promise, I won't ever do it again. I promise."

Her voice broke, and she let out a choked sob. It could have all been staged, it could have all been completely faked, but all the same, I tilted my wings to fly closer to her and squeezed her hand.

"We don't forgive you, but that can change," I said softly. She gave me a grateful smile, and I really wondered what her true motives were.

We flew longer, and eventually we made it out of New York and into the suburbs of Connecticut. Fang brushed his wing against mine as we soared low over a lucky forest.

"We could stop here," he said, dark eyes meeting mine. "Rest. Make our next move."

I thought about it. Thought some more. Ultimately, though, I shook my head.

"I had a brainwave," I said, "brought on by dynamiting the Institute. What if…"

Fang's eyebrows raised a fraction, and that was how I knew he knew.

"What if we pay the School a visit?"

"That's in California," Fang responded.

"I know," I said, warming to the idea. "But we can make it. All we'd have to do is have a mega-prison break for the other mutants trapped there. Think about it."

"You make it sound so simple."

I grinned. "Then it's settled."

I called the rest of the flock over. "Guys… Who wants to torch the School?"

Three-fourths of the group – meaning not Angel – shouted in joy, and as we soared over the glittering green forest, I felt that despite our flaws, we could really change what we were meant to do into what we _wanted_ to do.

And for now, what I wanted to do was take care of my amazing, imperfect flock.

 **The End.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this action-packed, ridiculously cheesy tale of Maximum Ride and the flock. Check out my other stories for more excitement (although I have not yet written any other MR fanfictions, but I expect to change that soon). Also, check out** ** _Fanglock Holmes: Elementary, My Dear Nudge_** **, a parody I mentioned earlier in other author's notes.**

 **Thank you for your support, and have a great day!**


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